Event · era
The Contraction
2100–2180
Population falls from about 10 billion to about 6 billion by 2200.
Read more in The Long Heat
Within surviving states, real authority shifts to cities, river-basin compacts and climate-refuge treaties. These institutions keep people alive while capitals retain their armies and debts. Refuge cities admit more people than they will trust with a vote, establishing a division between citizen and resident that outlasts the emergency (see <a href="politics.html">Politics</a>).