The Sun

This BBC web site article speculates, that as a result of decreasing magnetic activity of the Sun many more cosmic rays can reach the top of the Earth's atmosphere and be a danger to satellites and possibly to people in high flying aircraft. A considerable time ago it was found that flight crew flying over the Arctic has a greater incidence of cancer. That might become a problem over a large part of the world. Perhaps we will have to abandon the current shape of long range air travel. In that case I foresee good prospects for airships. Can any country, or group of countries, develop such airships better than China?

Has China developed any modern airship ? never heard that

The ability to build large airships, Zeppelins, was lost, to Great Britain after the loss of R.101 in 1930, to the US after the loss of Akron and Macon in the middle of the '30's, to Germany when Graf Zeppelin II was demolished in 1940. New large airships should be of a different configuration, similar to the Metalclad concept invented in Detroit in the late '20's, but made in fiber reinforced plastic. Building very large and extremely light structures will will demand large investments in the development of technology and plant and can probably only be financed and manned by China. In view of the large reduction in energy requirements of airships compared with airplanes for the same transport volume and with the prospect of disruption of air transport by a changing Sun this seems a worthwhile investment,