“So, Dr. Leclerc,” Stratt said. “We’ve been getting a lot of conflicting reports on exactly what to expect from the reduction of solar energy. It’s hard to find any two climatologists who agree.”

He shrugged. “It’s hard to find two climatologists who agree on the color of an orange. It is, unfortunately, an inexact field. There is a lot of uncertainty and—if I’m being honest—a lot of guesswork. Climate science is in its infancy.”

“You’re not giving yourself enough credit. Out of all the experts, you’re the only one I could find whose climate-prediction models were proven true over and over again for the last twenty years.”

He nodded.

She gestured to a disorderly mass of papers on the meeting table. “I’ve been sent every kind of prediction from minor crop failures to global biosphere collapse. I want to hear what you have to say. You’ve seen the predicted solar-output numbers. What’s your take?”

“Disaster, of course,” he said. “We’re looking at extinction of many species, complete upheaval of biomes all over the world, major changes in weather patterns—”

“Humans,” Stratt said. “I want to know how this affects humans, and when. I don’t care about the mating grounds of the three-anused mud sloth or any other random biome.”

“We’re part of the ecology, Ms.Stratt. We’re not outside it. The plants we eat, the animals we ranch, the air we breathe—it’s all part of the tapestry. It’s all connected. As the biomes collapse, it’ll have a direct impact on humanity.”

“Okay, then: numbers,” Stratt said. “I want numbers. Tangible things, not vague predictions.”

He scowled at her. “Okay. Nineteen years.”

“Nineteen years?”

“You wanted a number,” he said. “There’s a number. Nineteen years.”

“Okay, what’s nineteen years?”

“That’s my estimate for when half the people currently alive will be dead. Nineteen years from now.”

The silence that followed was unlike anything I’d ever experienced. Even Stratt was taken aback. Lokken and I looked to each other. I don’t know why but we did. Dimitri’s mouth fell agape.

“Half?” Stratt said. “Three point five billion people? Dead?”

“Yes,” he said. “Is that tangible enough for you?”

“How can you possibly know that?” she said.

He pursed his lips. “And just like that another climate denier is born. See how easy it is? All I have to do is tell you something you don’t want to hear.”

“Don’t patronize me, Dr. Leclerc. Just answer my questions.”

He crossed his arms. “We’re already seeing major weather-pattern disruptions.”

Lokken cleared her throat. “I heard there were tornadoes in Europe?”

“Yes,” he said. “And they’re happening more and more often. European languages didn’t even have a word for tornado until Spanish conquistadors saw them in North America. Now they’re happening in Italy, Spain, and Greece.”