Cli-Fi (climate fiction, a derivative of Sci-Fi, science fiction) began to be discussed in detail in 2007, although fantastic works that deal with environmental issues have been published before. Cli-Fi is a very interesting sub-genre of science fiction, which is based on theoretically possible or already existing technologies and scientific achievements of mankind, which can radically ruin our lives. In eco-fiction, the problems of a permissive attitude of a person towards nature and other people are raised.
How are ecology and cloud provider Cloud4Y connected, you ask? Well, firstly, the use of cloud technologies can reduce emissions of harmful substances into the atmosphere. That is, there is concern for the environment. And secondly, itβs not a sin to tell about interesting literature.
Reasons for the popularity of Cli-Fi
Cli-Fi literature is popular. Seriously, the same Amazon even dedicated to her. And there are reasons for that.
- First, panic. We are moving into a future that is difficult to predict. It is difficult, because we ourselves influence it. Global carbon dioxide emissions are at record levels, the past four years have seen abnormally high average temperatures (even Africa's winters are 3Β°C warmer), coral reefs are dying, and ocean levels are rising. The climate is changing, and this is a signal that it would be nice to do something to change the situation. And to better understand the issue and know the possible scenarios, you can read climate fiction.
- Second, generational. Young people are actively thinking about the importance of caring for nature. Her voice is increasingly heard in the media, and this is good, it must be supported. And it's not about letting the now fashionable eco-activist Greta Thunberg to the podium more often, where she can furiously denounce everything and everyone. It is more useful for young people to read about another project by Bojan Slat, which offers real methods for protecting the environment. Infected by his enthusiasm, the younger generation begins to study the issue in more detail, reads books (including Cli-Fi), draws conclusions.
- Third, psychological. The peculiarity of climate fiction lies in the fact that the writer does not need to exaggerate, painting a bleak future. The fear of nature and the expectation of possible consequences for the destructive influence on it has been sitting in people for so long that it is enough just to pry it a little with a fingernail. Cli-Fi exploits our guilt by making us want to read possible scenarios for future cataclysms. Post-apocalyptic is all the rage right now, and Cli-Fi is taking advantage of it.
Is it good? Perhaps yes. Such literature allows you to draw people's attention to those issues and problems that they did not even think about. No statistical calculations of scientists are able to act as effectively as a good book. The authors come up with different plots, create amazing worlds, but the key question remains the same: βWhat awaits us in the future if we do not find the strength in ourselves to weaken our destructive influence on the planet?β.
What books are worth paying attention to? Now we'll tell you.
What to read
Trilogy Margaret Atwood ("Oryx and Crake" - "Year of the Flood" - "Mad Addam"). The author shows us the life of the Earth after the death of the ecosystem. The reader finds himself in a devastated world where, it seems, only one person survived, struggling to survive. The story that Atwood tells is realistic, scary and instructive. The reader in the course of the story may notice details hinting at modern realities - the deteriorating environment, the corruption of politicians, the greed of corporations and the shortsightedness of ordinary people. These are just hints at how the history of mankind may end. But these hints are frightening.
Lauren Groff and her collection of short stories "Florida" are also worthy of your attention. The book imperceptibly, subtly touches on the topic of ecology, and the thought of the importance of caring for the environment arises only after reading sometimes difficult and disturbing stories about snakes, storms and children.
A novel by an American writer Barbara Kingsolver Flight Behavior makes the reader empathize with stories about the impact of global warming on monarch butterflies. Although the speech in the book, it would seem, is about life's difficulties familiar to many in the family and at home.
"Water Knife" Paolo Bacigalupi shows a world in which sudden global climate change has made water a hot commodity. Water scarcity is forcing some politicians to start their game of dividing spheres of influence. Sectarians are gaining more and more weight, and a young and very lively journalist is looking for trouble in especially soft places, trying to figure out the water distribution system.
The novel has a similar idea. Eric Brown Phoenix Sentinels. Nature struck back at humanity. There is a great dry land on the Earth. The few survivors fight over water sources. A small team travels to Africa in the hope of finding such a source. Will their search be successful and what will the road teach? You will find the answer in the book.
Since we are talking about the road, I want to additionally mention the book that made a strong impression on me. That's what it's called, "The Road", the author - Cormac McCarthy. This is not quite Cli-Fi, although the environmental disaster and its attendant problems are present in full. Father and son go to the sea. They go to survive. You canβt trust anyone, the survivors are too angry. But there remains a ray of hope that decency and honesty are still alive. You just need to find them. Will it work?
If you are interested in how an environmental disaster can lead to class and racial issues, then you can read the book by the Dominican writer Rita Indiana "Tentacles" (Tentacle). Not the easiest, and sometimes obsessively tolerant novel (if so i warned you) talks about the near future, where a young maid is at the center of a prophecy: only she can travel through time and save the ocean and humanity from disaster. But first, she must become the person she has always beenβwith the help of a sacred anemone. Close in spirit to the book and the short filmΒ» Syed Clark, in which for the sake of the safe birth of his child, a young man sacrifices ... his own skin color.
"Chances for Tomorrow" (Odds Against Tomorrow) Nathaniel Rich describe the life of a young specialist who is immersed in the mathematics of disasters. He makes worst-case calculations of environmental collapses, war games, natural disasters. His scripts are extremely accurate and detailed, and therefore are sold at high prices to corporations, as they allow them to protect them from any future disasters. One day, he learns that the worst-case scenario is about to overtake Manhattan. The young man realizes that he can get rich on this knowledge. But at what cost will he get this wealth?
Kim Stanley Robinson sometimes called a science fiction genius obsessed with climate change. His series of three stand-alone books titled "Metropolitan Science" is united by the problem of environmental disasters and global warming. The action takes place in the near future, when global warming leads to a massive melting of ice and a change in the course of the Gulf Stream, which threatens the onset of a new Ice Age. Some people are fighting for the future of mankind, but there are many who, even on the verge of the death of civilization, care only about money and power.
The author tells how changing the behavior of human society can be a solution to the climate crisis. Similar thoughts run through Robinson's most recent and most popular work, New York 2140. People here live ordinary lives, only in unusual conditions. Indeed, due to climate change, the metropolis is almost completely under water. Each skyscraper has become an island, and people live on the top floors of the buildings. The year 2140 was not chosen by chance. Scientists predict that during this period, the level of the world's oceans will rise so much that many cities will be flooded.
Whitley Strieber (he is also sometimes called crazy, but for a different reason: he seriously assures that he was abducted by aliens) in the novel "The Coming World Superstorm" shows the world after a general cooling. The massive melting of glaciers leads to the fact that the temperature of the World Ocean does not rise, but, on the contrary, drops sharply. The climate on Earth is beginning to change. Weather disasters follow one after another, and it becomes more and more difficult to survive. Based on this book, by the way, the film "The Day After Tomorrow" was shot.
All the books listed above are more or less modern. If you want more classical literature, then I recommend looking towards the British writer James Graham Ballard and his novel The Wind from Nowhere. Quite a Cli-Fi story about how a civilization is dying due to the persistent winds of hurricane force. If you like, there are sequels: The Sunken World, which tells about the melting of the ice at the poles of the Earth and the rise in sea levels, as well as the Burnt World, which has a surreal arid landscape that was formed due to industrial pollution that disrupts the rainfall cycle. .
It's likely that you've also come across Cli-Fi novels that you find interesting. Share in the comments?
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Source: habr.com