Strange storms suddenly appear out of (literally) a clear blue sky, and disappear just as rapidly. And only one scientist, Nigel Rhodes, understands what's going on: "the sum total of all nuclear fission has created a charge within the earth's composition, in just the same way as electricity can be charged in a storage battery."

The result will be that in five days time the spin of the Earth will for a short period slow down, almost certainly bringing humanity to an end.

How is he to convince people that what he has to say is neither a stunt nor a lunatic's imaginings, but the simple, horrifying, inevitable truth?