Wheel of Time is set thousands of years from now, yet it's still burdened with today's climate change

By Dann Mitchell, Professor of Climate Science, University of Bristol
Emily Ball, PhD Candidate, Climate Science, University of Bristol
Rebecca Áilish Atkinson, Research Fellow, Cognitive Psychology, University of Sussex
Sebastian Steinig, Research Associate in Paleoclimate Modelling, University of Bristol

Wheel of Time, the 14-book epic fantasy now turned into an Amazon Prime TV series, is a medieval-style adventure set in the Third Age of the World of the Wheel. While not explicit in the storyline, notes from the late author suggest that the First Age was actually modern-day Earth, which ended with a dramatic event (perhaps even climate change). From these notes, we estimate the show takes place around 18,000 years from today.

For climate scientists like us, this poses an interesting question: would today’s climate…

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