Great Cataclysm
The Great Cataclysm was a pivotal event in the Earth's history, occurring some time before 2050. Global warming took a turn for the worse, melting the polar ice caps and flooding much of the globe. Human intervention only made matters worse. The world's leading scientists used an experimental cooling agent to combat climate change. This left another quarter of the globe as frozen wasteland, with the survivors indirectly dominated by the Korven, who had taken the form of the totalitarian Department. (K9TV: The Korven, Sirens of Ceres, Aeolian) Professor Alistair Gryffen was in fact one of the scientists partially responsible for the event. (K9TV: Aeolian)