03-26-2011, 06:39 PM
Firstly, a disclaimer: Of course this whole article is nothing but a set of suggestions? I do realise that there are no rules laid down, as a condition of regional membership, that would actually require you to accept my advice on this (or almost any other) matter. However some of this material is based on details that were agreed during the compilation of the region?s old map and in its previous forum, and my speculations here are based on a reasonable amount of study (a BSc degree in Zoology, following A-levels in both Biology and Geography, followed by considerable reading on relevant topics over the years?) rather than just on imagination & guesswork?
Location and Climate
We know from certain details that have already been revealed during this region?s history so far that it is located to the east of the region The North Pacific, stretches from about sixty-something to twenty-something degrees north (EDIT: on the old map, although the new one looks to me as though it might extend a bit further towards the equator), and is several thousand miles wide. This places it in approximately the same location of the globe that the continent of North America occupies in RL, although without the northern edges of Canada & Alaska and with a somewhat wider southern edge. Having said which, some nations seem to operate on the ?TARDIS? principle and to be much larger on the inside than their positions on the regional map make them look from the outside!
Given the latitudes across which this region?s lands are spread, with the lack of other continents nearby to affect matters, there should logically be a warm current flowing from east to west along the southern coasts (with another one doing so through the ?inner? sea) and then northwards up the eastern coasts, and a cold-to-cool current flowing southwards or south-eastwards along the western coasts. This actually fits quite well into how the owners of various nations in those areas have described their countries? conditions.
On the other paw, the facts that the IDU?s land-masses differs from that RL continent in being basically surrounded by open ocean and that its pattern of mountain ranges differs considerably from that of North America mean that its climate zones wouldn?t be exactly the same as those at the same geographical coordinates in RL even if players don?t modify their nations? climates to suit their own wishes anyway. (for example, the ?Mainland? section of Bears Armed probably gets rather more rain & is slightly warmer in winter than should ?really? be the case considering its landlocked situation?). Bearing in mind this region?s historical acceptance of the ?Fractal Reality? concept, the idea that such differences from what might have been expected are due to ?leakage? from some alternative worlds where basic conditions are different would probably be a perfectly ?reasonable? explanation? But please, please, consider your neighbours? climates too when making decisions about this: Abrupt changes in climate and ecosystems at national borders simply aren?t very plausible, after all?
Origins and Evolution
It seems reasonable to presume that the land-masses which eventually moved into the positions the IDU?s continents occupy today broke away from a supercontinent during the Mesozoic Era just as the lands that became North America did, and that they were carrying a similar flora & fauna to that RL counterpart in those days. At any rate, nobody yet has written & posted a regional prehistory that disagrees with such ideas?
That such a starting condition could have led directly to the region?s current ecological pattern, which contains so many species that also exist (or, at least, have close relatives) in RL North America &/or Europe ? but also with some whose affinities are with the floras or faunas of other lands, too ? is decidedly implausible. What seems much more likely to me is that although there was certainly evolution & diversification from the original range of species here that process of ?leakage? from other Realities then brought in many life-forms that had evolved elsewhere too and quite a few of these managed to displace their native counterparts. Thus we would now have a mixture of species whose ancestors have been here ever since the Mesozoic, species whose ancestors arrived from elsewhere but that have since evolved into new ones locally, and species that have arrived here from elsewhere after having already evolved into their current forms.
(To be continued: Please do not post in this thread yet?)
Location and Climate
We know from certain details that have already been revealed during this region?s history so far that it is located to the east of the region The North Pacific, stretches from about sixty-something to twenty-something degrees north (EDIT: on the old map, although the new one looks to me as though it might extend a bit further towards the equator), and is several thousand miles wide. This places it in approximately the same location of the globe that the continent of North America occupies in RL, although without the northern edges of Canada & Alaska and with a somewhat wider southern edge. Having said which, some nations seem to operate on the ?TARDIS? principle and to be much larger on the inside than their positions on the regional map make them look from the outside!
Given the latitudes across which this region?s lands are spread, with the lack of other continents nearby to affect matters, there should logically be a warm current flowing from east to west along the southern coasts (with another one doing so through the ?inner? sea) and then northwards up the eastern coasts, and a cold-to-cool current flowing southwards or south-eastwards along the western coasts. This actually fits quite well into how the owners of various nations in those areas have described their countries? conditions.
On the other paw, the facts that the IDU?s land-masses differs from that RL continent in being basically surrounded by open ocean and that its pattern of mountain ranges differs considerably from that of North America mean that its climate zones wouldn?t be exactly the same as those at the same geographical coordinates in RL even if players don?t modify their nations? climates to suit their own wishes anyway. (for example, the ?Mainland? section of Bears Armed probably gets rather more rain & is slightly warmer in winter than should ?really? be the case considering its landlocked situation?). Bearing in mind this region?s historical acceptance of the ?Fractal Reality? concept, the idea that such differences from what might have been expected are due to ?leakage? from some alternative worlds where basic conditions are different would probably be a perfectly ?reasonable? explanation? But please, please, consider your neighbours? climates too when making decisions about this: Abrupt changes in climate and ecosystems at national borders simply aren?t very plausible, after all?
Origins and Evolution
It seems reasonable to presume that the land-masses which eventually moved into the positions the IDU?s continents occupy today broke away from a supercontinent during the Mesozoic Era just as the lands that became North America did, and that they were carrying a similar flora & fauna to that RL counterpart in those days. At any rate, nobody yet has written & posted a regional prehistory that disagrees with such ideas?
That such a starting condition could have led directly to the region?s current ecological pattern, which contains so many species that also exist (or, at least, have close relatives) in RL North America &/or Europe ? but also with some whose affinities are with the floras or faunas of other lands, too ? is decidedly implausible. What seems much more likely to me is that although there was certainly evolution & diversification from the original range of species here that process of ?leakage? from other Realities then brought in many life-forms that had evolved elsewhere too and quite a few of these managed to displace their native counterparts. Thus we would now have a mixture of species whose ancestors have been here ever since the Mesozoic, species whose ancestors arrived from elsewhere but that have since evolved into new ones locally, and species that have arrived here from elsewhere after having already evolved into their current forms.
(To be continued: Please do not post in this thread yet?)