From: siegel@acm.org   
      
   On Saturday, October 4, 2014 2:33:50 AM UTC-4, William Vetter wrote:   
   > On Friday, October 3, 2014 10:33:22 PM UTC-4, bre...@sff.net wrote:   
   >   
   > > Weather is also an important part of worldbuilding. What would Hoth be,   
   > > if it were not an ice planet?   
   >   
   > I don't quite remember if that book actually had a monolithic worldwide   
   climate.  I don't think that's really plausible for an Earthlike world.   
      
   Whether the Earth actually had an "Ice Ball" or "Slush Ball" or "White Earth"   
   climate  in the distant past is, I gather, much disputed. But it seems that all   
    the climate models indicate that such a thing is at least possible for a   
   more-or-less earth-like world. And of course an "ice world" in an SF story can   
    be just that little bit farther from its sun, or the sun just slightly   
   cooler, making such a state more likely.   
      
   In such a case the planet might well have a relatively uniform climate across   
   the globe, at least one with far ;less variation than we presently have on   
   earth.   
      
   Whether it is plausible to have large land animals on an iceworld is another   
   question, and doubtless depends on the exact details, but many large animals on   
    Earth are basically browsers, and if you allow some vegetation, a browser   
   might be able to survive.   
      
   -DES   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)