Asia: Before The Red

While the rest of the world struggled through the ravages of the late 20th century, the nations of Asia were well-prepared for the vicissitudes of climate change and environmental degradation. China, Japan, and Korea rapidly concluded that coal burning and oil were too costly to continue basing their expansion on, and instead shifted to creating vast fields of oceanic algae that were easily converted to the CHOOH2 processes of the United States. This quantum shift also provided more food for the Asian nations' dense populations, although strong (some say draconian) birth control programs in some nations also helped reduce excess populations. Crowded and teeming with people, the cities of Japan, China, Korea, and the Philippines still managed to sustain high levels of food security, safety, and comfort even if many lack personal freedoms common in other nations.