A thought about Independence Day I had... let's say that the novel is correct in stating 3 billion people died in the 1996 war. Well, in Blade Runner, the Earth is overpopulated. You could justify it if we say that there's 10+ billion people in 1996 and only 3 billion died, it's no longer quite as insane. The major issue is, of course, still going to be the incredibly quick rebuilding of Los Angeles in Predator 2 (set only 1 year later), but it's translation into the Blade Runner version makes a lot more sense.