These events remain millions of years in the future, but Michael sees their precursors now. Parts of Earth have already grown too cold to be inhabitable, and the remaining areas are now crowded with immigrants who fled their freezing homelands. On his way home, he tries to squeeze past hundreds of other commuters, jostled by pushing limbs and foreign languages. He knows this city used to be considered hot and humid. Now the
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crowd's breath rises like a specter into the cold air, and his children share a bed to stay warm at night.