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Description
The recognition of the threat of Climate Change came in 2019 with the discovery that there was perhaps only 12 years to do something about it before it became irreversible. Some nations declared climate emergencies and began to wean themselves off fossil fuels as quickly as possible. Others continued to live in the past, believing that it would all go away and that the fossil fuel industry had to be kept going for the good of the economy. Conservative forces, not wanting to change, came to power in many powerful nations and continued to build pipelines to transport petroleum rather than spending the money on greener options.

The end came considerably faster than even the most dire predictions had allowed for. There never had been good data on the world's great ice sheets. In 2028 the melting of the methane hydrates in Northern Canada and Russia triggered a 1 degree Celsius rise in temperature over the space of only a few years. Both the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets completely disintegrated and melted within only a decade. No nation was left unscathed. All the world's great seaports were underwater and world trade collapsed as the construction of new infrastructure became essential.

As temperatures continued to rise entire nations became flooded or too hot to inhabit. Billions were displaced as these refugees streamed north and south to cooler areas. The nations they were heading toward had populations of their own and posted armies to turn them back. The refugees responded as expected by arming themselves and the World Climate Wars began. By the time the dust settled, no nation had survived unscathed. The Great Trump Wall was finally constructed and destroyed within the space of three years. The wave of migrants completely took over the southern states pushing Americans north. They blamed the rich for their woes and the second American Civil War began. Private armies, well equipped, shot down thousands. A million armed people can't be stopped by hundreds no matter how will armed and a lot of the worlds millionaires and billionaires found themselves nailed to the outsides of their mansions by angry mobs.

When the carnage ceased around 2075, the world's population was less than two billion. The band from 10 degrees north to 10 degrees south was uninhabitable. Much of the southern United States and parts of Europe and Asia were radioactive from fallout. And still the temperatures continued to rise. The survivors began to build greenhouse gas extractors to sequester the dangerous gas deep in the rocks. Too little, too late.

The bright ray of hope in all this was the discovery by the 100m orbital telescope of a handful of worlds orbiting nearby stars that were definitely Earth-like. Some were slightly larger, some slightly smaller. All had liquid water and were in the Goldilocks zone of their primaries. The world government proposed, and found it well accepted, that humanity's hope lay on these worlds. Huge colony ships, powered by fusion drives were constructed. Each held 50 million people, adapted to fit the requirements of the intended target world.

Atlantis was the fifth such mission. Atlantis, the second planet out from an K5 orange dwarf star, was mostly a water world. Though it had a few small continents, most of the surface was oceans. The colonists were adapted by making them merfolk. The Teagues, from the flooded city of Halifax, were amongst the volunteers. They'd endured spending weeks in the transformation tanks. Holovision entertainment was okay but even the best shows became tedious after a while. One day, their transformation tech, in her robot avatar, showed up. They were surprised when the a capsule appeared on a transport carrier.

"You're ready," Cindy Greer, the transformation tech, announced brightly.
"Ready?" asked Colin the teenaged boy. "For what?"
"You've completed your transformations."
"What happens next?" asked Jeanette, the mother of the family.
"The trip to Atlantis is a long one. We'll be putting each of you into stasis before transporting you to the Atlantis Project starship."
"And then?" asked Vanessa worried.
"You'll arrive at the new world, sweetie," William, the father stated brightly. "We all will."
"Exactly so," agreed Cindy. "Then you'll have to work together with the other colonists to create a colony."
"And we won't do the dumb things people did to Earth, right?" asked Vanessa.
"And we won't make those mistakes again," stated William flatly. "Ever again."

One by one, each was loaded into their own stasis capsule. As the plastic cover closed, each was momentarily covered by a mist and they fell asleep. The carrier quickly left the bay and headed for the transports that would carry them into orbit on a pillar of brilliant hydrogen fuelled flame to join the reset of the colonists. 3days after launch, the family's shuttle reached the Atlantis starship. Here, the Teagues were carefully stowed in the most shielded portion of the starship. 15 days later, with the entire complement in statis, the fusion engines came online and Atlantis began its slow climb out of the Solar System towards its new home amongst the stars.

Description
The recognition of the threat of Climate Change came in 2019 with the discovery that there was perhaps only 12 years to do something about it before it became irreversible. Some nations declared climate emergencies and began to wean themselves off fossil fuels as quickly as possible. Others continued to live in the past, believing that it would all go away and that the fossil fuel industry had to be kept going for the good of the economy. Conservative forces, not wanting to change, came to power in many powerful nations and continued to build pipelines to transport petroleum rather than spending the money on greener options.

The end came considerably faster than even the most dire predictions had allowed for. There never had been good data on the world's great ice sheets. In 2028 the melting of the methane hydrates in Northern Canada and Russia triggered a 1 degree Celsius rise in temperature over the space of only a few years. Both the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets completely disintegrated and melted within only a decade. No nation was left unscathed. All the world's great seaports were underwater and world trade collapsed as the construction of new infrastructure became essential.

As temperatures continued to rise entire nations became flooded or too hot to inhabit. Billions were displaced as these refugees streamed north and south to cooler areas. The nations they were heading toward had populations of their own and posted armies to turn them back. The refugees responded as expected by arming themselves and the World Climate Wars began. By the time the dust settled, no nation had survived unscathed. The Great Trump Wall was finally constructed and destroyed within the space of three years. The wave of migrants completely took over the southern states pushing Americans north. They blamed the rich for their woes and the second American Civil War began. Private armies, well equipped, shot down thousands. A million armed people can't be stopped by hundreds no matter how will armed and a lot of the worlds millionaires and billionaires found themselves nailed to the outsides of their mansions by angry mobs.

When the carnage ceased around 2075, the world's population was less than two billion. The band from 10 degrees north to 10 degrees south was uninhabitable. Much of the southern United States and parts of Europe and Asia were radioactive from fallout. And still the temperatures continued to rise. The survivors began to build greenhouse gas extractors to sequester the dangerous gas deep in the rocks. Too little, too late.

The bright ray of hope in all this was the discovery by the 100m orbital telescope of a handful of worlds orbiting nearby stars that were definitely Earth-like. Some were slightly larger, some slightly smaller. All had liquid water and were in the Goldilocks zone of their primaries. The world government proposed, and found it well accepted, that humanity's hope lay on these worlds. Huge colony ships, powered by fusion drives were constructed. Each held 50 million people, adapted to fit the requirements of the intended target world.

Atlantis was the fifth such mission. Atlantis, the second planet out from an K5 orange dwarf star, was mostly a water world. Though it had a few small continents, most of the surface was oceans. The colonists were adapted by making them merfolk. The Teagues, from the flooded city of Halifax, were amongst the volunteers. They'd endured spending weeks in the transformation tanks. Holovision entertainment was okay but even the best shows became tedious after a while. One day, their transformation tech, in her robot avatar, showed up. They were surprised when the a capsule appeared on a transport carrier.

"You're ready," Cindy Greer, the transformation tech, announced brightly.
"Ready?" asked Colin the teenaged boy. "For what?"
"You've completed your transformations."
"What happens next?" asked Jeanette, the mother of the family.
"The trip to Atlantis is a long one. We'll be putting each of you into stasis before transporting you to the Atlantis Project starship."
"And then?" asked Vanessa worried.
"You'll arrive at the new world, sweetie," William, the father stated brightly. "We all will."
"Exactly so," agreed Cindy. "Then you'll have to work together with the other colonists to create a colony."
"And we won't do the dumb things people did to Earth, right?" asked Vanessa.
"And we won't make those mistakes again," stated William flatly. "Ever again."

One by one, each was loaded into their own stasis capsule. As the plastic cover closed, each was momentarily covered by a mist and they fell asleep. The carrier quickly left the bay and headed for the transports that would carry them into orbit on a pillar of brilliant hydrogen fuelled flame to join the reset of the colonists. 3days after launch, the family's shuttle reached the Atlantis starship. Here, the Teagues were carefully stowed in the most shielded portion of the starship. 15 days later, with the entire complement in statis, the fusion engines came online and Atlantis began its slow climb out of the Solar System towards its new home amongst the stars.