While I was in England earlier this year, I had the opportunity to meet a fellow who was working on a climate change fiction project. We got to talking one day and he asked me if I knew of any science fiction works that dealt with climate change, either explicitly, or as a background element (post- or pre-change). I named a few and told him I’d do some more research when I got home. Since then, I’ve emailed him a long list of post-nuclear science fiction and a few things I’ve read or read about that deal with something akin to what scientists are talking about today.
Now I’m looking for a little help from the science fiction community. I’m looking for science fiction that deals specifically with climate change brought on by global warming. The climate change need not be central to the plot, but it does need to have a presence in some way within the text (as background is fine). The only stipulation is that the climate change be a result of global warming (CO2).
So, have you read any books or short stories that fit into this theme? Let me know in the comments, and please spread the word about this post. The more texts I can throw at this fellow, the better. He’s working on a huge project, and having more science fiction in his list will help diversify what he’s talking about.
Thanks for your help.
10 Responses
The Big Splash by George R Galuschak
Or We Will Hang Separately by Nancy Jane Moore
Good luck with this. For the most part, I find pre and post Warming stories contrived and preachy (although the Moore story is cleverer than most).
Thanks for the suggestions. Spread the word 😛
Reading Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood right now. The ocean has swallowed New York and other coastal cities in the 'now' parts of the novel's narration. Formerly fertile parts of the earth have also turned to deserts and Snowman (Jimmy) can't tolerate the mid-day sun because it's so hot. Year of the Flood likely will be similar since it's part of the same (planned) trilogy, but I haven't read far enough into it to know for sure.
The Book of Dave – Will Self – seems to suggest similar flooding, though it is set so far in the future that the cause of landscape change is not known to the people within the story.
Thanks so much, Michele. I appreciate it :).
Kim Stanley Robinson deals with climate change as a central subject in the Science in the Capital series: Forty Signs of Rain (2004), Fifty Degrees Below (2005), and Sixty Days and Counting (2007); it happens back on earth in the Mars trilogy, and I think is a factor in more of his books, but I haven't read all of them yet.
Laurel: A good choice :). Thanks.
'State of Fear' by Crichton is probably already on his list, but I'll throw it out there just in case. I know I read another one recently that hinted at climate change, but can't remember the name. If it comes to me, I'll be back.
Karabu: It's probably already on his list, but I'll put it on my list for him anyway.
And please do come back. Any help on this would be greatly appreciated.
A Scientific Romance, by Ronald Wright, should definitely be on that list.
Climate change turns a future Britain tropical as well as influencing several other key plot factors.
I'm reminded of some other stories, but the details are presently escaping me…
biopunk: Thanks. Sounds interesting.