Fifty Degrees Below - Kim Stanley Robinson [66]
“How?” Anna exclaimed.
“Don’t worry, we have ferries at the dock enough for all. Always docked here for this very purpose, because the danger is ever-present. We have used them before, when the rivers flood or there are high tides. Any of them can flood us. The island is just too low, and unfortunately, getting lower.”
“And sea level is getting higher,” Charlie said. “I heard from a friend in Antarctica that a piece of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet came off a few days ago. Every time that happens sea level rises by whatever extra amount of water the ice displaces.”
“Interesting,” Drepung said. “Perhaps that explains why we are already at the safety level on the dike.”
“How much time do we have?” Anna said.
“Two or three hours. This is more than enough time for us.” He sighed nevertheless. “We prefer that our guests leave by helicopter in a situation like this, but to tell the truth the helicopter went to Calcutta last night, to bring out the ABC officials to meet you. So now it appears you should join us on the ferries.”
“How many people live here again?” Charlie asked as he threw their bathroom bags into his backpack.
“Twelve thousand.”
“Wow.”
“Yes. It is a big operation, but all will be well.”
“What about the zoo animals?” Nick asked. By now their bags were packed, and Nick was dressed and looking wide awake.
“We have a boat for them too. It’s a difficult procedure, but there is a team assigned to it. People with circus experience. They call their act, ‘Noah Goes Fast.’ How about you, are you ready?”
They were ready. Joe had watched all the action with a curious eye; now he said, “Da? Go?”
“That’s right big guy. We’re off on another trip.”
Outside it was raining harder than ever, the cloud cover somewhat broken and flying north on a strong wind. They hustled into a van and joined a little traffic jam on the island’s main road. All the crowded vans turned north toward the dock. Joe sat in Anna’s lap looking out the window, saying “Ba? Ba?”
Charlie was on his phone. “Hey Wade!” he said, and Anna bent her head to try and catch what he was saying. “How big was that berg? . . . No kidding. Have they calculated the displacement yet? . . . Oh okay. Yeah, not that much, but we’ve got a situation here, a monsoon flood and a full-moon tide. . . . Shit. Okay.”
He clicked off.
“What?” Anna said.
“Wade says the piece of the ice sheet that came off probably displaced enough water to raise sea level by a centimeter or two.”
“God that must be a big iceberg,” Anna said. “Think of sea level going up a centimeter everywhere around the world.”
“Yes. Although apparently it’s only a little piece of the total ice sheet. And once it starts coming apart there’s no telling how fast it might go.”
“My lord.”
They sat bracketing the boys. Nick was wide-eyed, but appeared too surprised by all the activity to formulate his usual barrage of questions. Their van joined the line out to the southern stretch of the dike. Drepung leaned forward from his seat to show them the screen of his cell phone, which now displayed a tiny image of the upper