Melting Down

During a too-close-to-call US Presidential election. President Charley Breen must decidehow much to risk in order to stop the international terrorist plot, called "OperationNoah". Tex Cassidy is the President''s life-long friend, a Pulitzer-nominated investigativereporter, and a master at uncovering the connections between seemingly unrelatedactions. He teams up with Zavia Jansen, a world-class designer of dikes and storm-surgebarriers to uncover "Operation Noah". Admiral Boris Sukirov and his high-ranking coconspiratorsview the disappearing Arctic sea ice as Russia''s final opportunity to controlthe world. Arming mercenaries with suitcase nuclear devices, they hold the world''sglaciers hostage while exploiting the real-world scenarios that readers hear about intoday''s media.Melting Down''s real-world scenarios include the disappearing Arctic sea ice, themelting of the Greenland Ice Sheet and global glaciers, the accessibility of the world''slargest untapped oil and gas reserves under the shallow Arctic Ocean, and Russia''sterritorial claims as the largest landmass north of the Arctic Circle.As they criss-cross the globe to achieve their goals, Melting Down''s characters representmany scientific, political and moral viewpoints. These viewpoints range from energystakeholders to scientists calling for immediate action to political climate-deniers. Theviewpoints also address questions such as "who benefits from the changing climate?"and "is there a way to mitigate the worst aspects of the changing climate?"Collectively, Melting Down provides an action-filled vehicle for exploring many oftoday''s most complex and pressing issues.