People were finally starting to get used to the purple, constantly cloudy sky and the colder weather. It’s kind of funny how before all of this happened everyone was complaining about global warming and that the planet would become too hot to support human life. But now people were freezing to death and global warming was something most were praying for.

Scientists had been warning of dire consequences for humanity if global leaders didn’t take swift action to combat climate change. But most third-world countries couldn’t afford to invest in solutions to address the root causes of climate change. Leadership in wealthy first-world countries felt that continued investment in the military-industrial complexes and infrastructure in their respective countries was a higher priority than throwing money at what many politicians thought was a hoax.

In 2024 there was a candidate for President of the United States who said he had a surefire plan to stop climate change. He was vague about his plan during the campaign but promised that if elected only he could fix the problem and he would have it done within the first 100 days of his administration.

He did win the election and, as he promised, he announced his plan. Scientists around the world balked at his plan, but he said he knew more than the scientists. Military leaders called his plan insane, but he said he was smarter than his generals. Medical professionals predicted that more people would get sick and die as a result of his plan than would die if we did nothing to stem global warming, but he said these doctors were clueless liberal elitists.

So he implemented his plan to explode thousands of nuclear weapons in the atmosphere in order to create a radioactive cloud cover over the entire planet. This cloud cover would create a nuclear insulation blanket that would block out the Sun’s rays from reaching the surface of the planet, which would stem the tide of rising surface temperatures.

He was right about how his plan would stop global temperatures from rising. After exploding the nuclear devices into the atmosphere, it triggered what scientists called a nuclear winter. Others referred to it as the new ice age.

The planet went dark, skies were covered by thick purple clouds, temperatures dropped an average of 18°C, crops failed, billions died from radiation sickness, starvation, or freezing to death.

The survivors were finally getting used to the purple, constantly cloudy sky and the frigid weather. And to living mostly underground.

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Written for Melissa’s Fandango’s Flash Fiction Challenge. Image credit: Ilyuza Mingazova on Unsplash.