Physical Sciences
While advanced ceramics and crystals (many of the latter manufactured in the zero-g environment of the orbital colonies) are an important part of many machines and constructions, metals are still the cheapest major construction material. New mining methods (including metal extraction from sea water) allow much greater efficiency in obtaining metals with little damage to the environment. Materials with amazing tensile strength are routinely built; it is theorized that a surface to orbit beanstalk might just be possible, though no one has any plans to construct one. Lunar scientists are working on new substances made from rocks which may revolutionize the materials industry.
Fusion plants provide the majority of Europe's power. While ion engines are common in space, they are considered too dangerous to use for large-scale power and are relegated to use as propulsion systems. Fusion plants are usually located on the coasts next to the desalinization plants, extracting deuterium from the desalinized water.
Large scale weaponry (artillery, missiles, naval ships) has almost disappeared from use. However, industrial and communication lasers and ion drives are common and could be easily modified into make-shift weapons of mass destruction. Such systems are heavily guarded to prevent improper use.
Maglev trains have become the standard mode of transportation. Vacuum tunnels crisscross Europe allowing long-distance trains to run at speeds in excess of 1000 kph. Surface trains serve regional traffic, while electric street cars carry local travellers. Air travel is expensive and is mainly used only for passenger flights to North Africa and Iceland or suborbital flights from Europe to far eastern Siberia. (Underwater maglev lines already cross the English channel, the Oresund Strait, the Skaggerak, and the Dardanelles. A maglev line from Sicily to Tunis is under construction, while a line from Greece to Egypt is in the planning stages.) Ships with nearly frictionless hulls carry cargo across the seas, including the new sea lanes of the Northeast Passage. The burning of fossil fuels has been banned by all industrialized nations.
Travel to orbit and the moon has become routine: dozens of ion ships launch and land each day. A trip to the orbital colonies lasts only a few hours (mostly spent in docking maneuvers), while a typical lunar flight takes anywhere from twelve hours (at full thrust; an extremely expensive and uncomfortable exercise) to eight days (for a minimum boost cargo pod). Railgun/slingshot launch technology is still around (and would be very cheap for non-fragile cargo), but no facilities currently exist due to the lack of a suitable equatorial site. Manned trips have been made to Mars, Mercury and the asteroid belt. Many groups are planning permanent mining settlements in the asteroids; the Soviets also hope to construct a mining base on Mercury in the near future.
Biological Sciences
The greenhouse effect has run amok, but is finally slowing down. Planetologists estimate that if there are no further disturbances to the environment, global warming should cease in twenty years and begin to reverse itself, though the Earth will take upwards of three centuries to return to its pre-industrial temperatures. It will be many milennia before the polar icecaps completely return, normalizing sea levels. In the meantime, climates and weather continue to shift erratically.
Man and climactic shift have obliterated much of the natural ecosphere. Genetically modified plants and animals are being used to reconstruct the ecology of many areas. Fast-growing trees are already rebuilding the forests at a phenomenal rate. Biologists have learned much and are now able to regulate local ecologies and nurture regrowth. Unfortunately this only occurs in the industrialized and semi-industrialized nations. Over much of the world there is no effective civilization to control the changes and mutant wildlife has run amok.
The average lifespan in Europe has reached 115 years. Though there have been no breakthroughs in halting the aging process, organs cloned from the donor's own cells allow replacement of many worn out body parts, while modern medicine and cosmetic surgery can keep most people fit and youthful-looking well into their 80's. All but a handful of rare diseases have been wiped out.
World Sociology
The world has essentially split into two societies - the industrialized nations of Europe and North Africa, and the impoverished peoples of the rest of the world, each with about half of the world's population. (A belt of semi-industrialized nations exists in central Asia, the Middle East and Africa, while a few areas elsewhere have begun to trade with Europe.) While the Europeans enjoy the highest standard of living ever achieved on this planet, the balance of the human race struggles daily for survival.
European Society - The world of 2100 is almost a utopia for the people of Europe and North Africa. Automated factories provide wealth for all; less than 5% of the labor force works in the industrial sector. Most people work in service industries such as medicine, education, entertainment, or finance. Despite a 24 hour work week, 65% of the adult population does not have a regular job - most of these people are in school, retired, or work at home as housekeepers and child-rearers, though these jobs are no longer gender based. (The average person changes sex once every 15.4 years.) Even those who work for a company often work at home through telecommunications and remote control of machinery. Those who do go to an office can easily commute hundreds of miles in less than an hour. Group families with 3 to 7 adults are the norm. The birth rate is low and children receive lavish attention and personal care. The average person spends the first 26 years of his life in school; adult education is also quite common. Most people speak three or more languages and have at least one graduate level degree. While liberal versions of Catholicism, Islam and Gaeanism are still common (especially in the Mediterranean region), the majority of the European population consists of agnostics or atheists. Tolerance, environmentalism, and a healthy distrust of military solutions are strongly imbedded in the modern European culture; almost half of the EC's population can remember the cataclysm of 2060 and they are determined not to let it happen again.
Society Elsewhere - Four out of five children die before the age of 5; those who survive have an average lifespan of about 35 years. Most people work from dawn to dusk at subsistence-level agriculture and are completely at the mercy of erratic climate shifts and the uncontrolled spread of altered species; famine is common. Gangs of bandits wander from place to place, looting and pillaging. Feudal lords, basically bandits who have settled down, rule much of the land. These petty warlords, backed by bands of henchmen, extort food and goods from the farmers and fight insignificant wars among themselves. Most of the people are ignorant and superstitious, though they do retain some scattered scraps of technology. Elders who remember the old days before the cataclysm still keep society in touch with some of its civilized roots, but the younger generations have grown up in a very different world: few of them have ever been more than a day's walk from their home village and they know nothing beyond their own limited existence.
Total World Population = 2,434,000,000. Entries for individual nations below list population and relative per capita income.
Switzerland - 11 mln. Wealthy. Despite its small size, Switzerland is one of the acknowledged leaders of the EC. What they lack in sheer quantity, they make up for in quality - Swiss products are at the cutting edge of modern science. In addition, what the Soviet Union is to technology and industry, Switzerland is to economics and politics. The Swiss dominate the EC's financial markets and councils, while their merchant fleets dominate world trade - the Mediterranean has often been called a Swiss Lake. Geneva and Zurich are usually recognized as the unofficial political and financial capitals (respectively) of the EC.
Franco-German Confederation (Gaul) - 191 mln. Rich. A federal democracy with five constituent republics. The Franco-German Confederation has recently grown to rival even the Soviet Union and Switzerland as a leader of the EC. However, its people are still divided and the country can rarely make a united stand on most matters. The five republics are: Provence - The former lands of southern France, now mostly populated by North African and Mideast immigrants. While adherence to conservative Islam is minimal, the people still retain a distinctly Moslem culture. France - The majority of historic France, the agricultural heartland of the Confederation. Modern France is only sparsely populated. Benelux - The former lands of Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg and Flanders. Much of this land has been lost to sea-level rise, and Benelux is characterized by a vast, urban sprawl. Brussels, the capital of the Confederation, has a metropolitan population of 30 million, the largest city in the world. Germany - The northern lands of historic Germany, this nation is the industrial center of the continent, with factories spreading from the Rhine to the Oder. Austria - A quiet backwater, Austria is known for its tourist industry.
Italy - 86 mln. Rich. 22nd century Italy has a mostly Moslem population. Freedom of religion is practiced, however, and Rome once again houses the European Pope (as opposed to the American Pope in South America).
Iberia - 65 mln. Rich. Iberia also has a large Islamic population, descended from North African refugees. The Iberians lead the EC in trade and exploratory missions to the rest of the world.
Great Britain - 51 mln. Rich. Under the guidance of King Edward X, Britain is a dynamic member of the EC. After the cataclysm, Britain's natural ecology was almost wiped out by out-of-control genetically modified plants and animals; they are now the leading nation in ecological reconstruction.
Scandinavia - 33 mln. Wealthy. A federal union of Iceland, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Estonia, and Denmark (now a series of islands), The Scandinavian Union is one of the richest nations in the world with an economy based on heavy industry, mining and fishing. Scandinavia tends to remain somewhat isolated from continental European politics. Greenland is also part of Scandinavia and has a rapidly growing population mining the lands uncovered by the receding glaciers. The Scandinavian population is the fastest growing in the EC, mostly due to immigration.
The Baltics - Poland, Lithuania and Latvia are all closely allied and form a minor voting block in the EC councils. They tend to be very conservative and often side with the Scandinavians. Poland - 36 mln. Rich. Lithuania - 4 mln. Rich. Latvia - 3 mln. Wealthy.
Central Europe - These nations retain very close political and economic ties to Switzerland. As the crossroads of Europe, they are culturally diverse, the center of the new united European culture. West Germany - 36 mln. Rich. Czechoslovakia - 15 mln. Rich. Hungary - 11 mln. Rich. Carpathia - 10 mln. Prosperous. Croatia - 6 mln. Prosperous. Slovenia - 3 mln. Rich. Dalmatia - 2 mln. Wealthy.
The Balkans - While an important part of Europe, the Balkan region remains politically volatile and, unlike elsewhere in the EC, there are still a lot of tensions between the nations. Greece - 20 mln. Rich. Greece draws its wealth from the Aegean: sea mining, aquaculture, and fishing. The diverse population is a mixture of Greeks, Turks, Egyptians, Africans, Italians, Romanians, Arabians, and Serbs. Romania - 10 mln. Prosperous. Sea level rise has badly hurt Romania: the lower Danube (including Bucharest) was flooded, and much of the surrounding lands have become unusable salt flats. Much of the population has emigrated to other countries. Serbia - 10 mln. Rich. Serbia is still divided by ethnic tensions, and a number of minorities (Macedonians, Kosvians, Bulgarians, Bosnians, and Turks) are agitating for independence. Bulgaria - 10 mln. Rich.
Turkey - 25 mln. Above Average. Turkey is the poor man of the EC. While they participate actively in the Community, Turkey remains a somewhat backward land. The population has dwindled over the years as many Turks leave for better prospects elsewhere.
Ireland - 5 mln. Prosperous. Ireland is very isolationist, and participates in f
