Cli-Fi: Climate Change Fiction
With Earth Day (April 22) quickly approaching, now is a great time to start thinking about the environment. Reading a cli-fi book is a great way to get you in the right frame of mind for Earth Day.
Climate change fiction, known as cli-fi, is an emerging genre of fiction that deals with the consequences of climate change. These books feature topics such as wonky weather, global warming, and castrophic events caused by man-made climate change. Many, though not all, of these novels are set in the present or very near future. This genre has been slowly growing in popularity, and some universities are even teaching whole courses devoted to cli-fi.
Here are some cli-fi titles owned by the library:
Arctic Drift by Clive Cussler
A potential breakthrough discovery to reverse global warming . . . a series of unexplained sudden deaths in British Columbia . . . a rash of international incidents between the United States and one of its closest allies that threatens to erupt into an actual shooting war . . . NUMA director Dirk Pitt and his children, Dirk. Jr. and Summer, have reason to believe there's a connection here somewhere, but they also know they have very little time to find it before events escalate out of control. Their only real clue might just be a mysterious silvery mineral traced to a long-ago expedition in search of the fabled Northwest Passage. But no one survived that doomed mission, captain and crew perished--and if Pitt and his colleague Al Giordino aren't careful, the very same fate may await them.
Arctic Rising by Tobias S. Buckell
The Arctic Ice Cap has all but melted, and the international community is racing to claim the massive amounts of oil beneath the newly accessible ocean. Enter the Gaia Corporation. They plan to terraform Earth to save it from itself--but in doing so, they have created a superweapon.
Flight Behavior by Barbara Kingsolver
Tired of living on a failing farm and suffering oppressive poverty, bored housewife Dellarobia Turnbow, on the way to meet a potential lover, is detoured by a miraculous event on the Appalachian mountainside that ignites a media and religious firestorm which changes her life forever.
The Healer by Antti Toumainen
It's two days before Christmas, and the city of Helsinki is battling a ruthless climate catastrophe: subway tunnels are flooded; abandoned vehicles are left burning in the streets; the authorities have issued warnings for malaria, tuberculosis, Ebola, and the plague. People are fleeing to the far north of Finland and Norway, where conditions are still tolerable. Social order is crumbling and private security firms have undermined the police force. Tapani Lehtinen, a struggling poet, is among the few still able and willing to live in the city. When Tapani's beloved wife, Johanna, a newpaper journalist, goes missing, he embarks on a frantic hunt for her. Johanna's disappearance seems to be connected to a story she was researching about a politically motivated serial killer known as "The Healer." While searching for Johanna, Tapani uncovers secrets from her past -- secrets that connect her to the very murders she was investigating.
Memory of Water by Emmi Itaranta
In the far north of the Scandinavian Union, now occupied by the power state of New Qian, seventeen-year-old Noria Kaitio studies to become a tea master like her father. It is a position that holds great responsibility and a dangerous secret. Tea masters alone know the location of hidden water sources, including the natural spring that once provided water for her whole village. When Noria's father dies, the secret of the spring reaches the new military commander . . . and the power of the army is vast indeed. But the precious water reserve is not the only forbidden knowledge Noria possesses, and resistance is a fine line. Threatened with imprisonment, and with her life at stake, Noria must make an excruciating, dangerous choice between knowledge and freedom.
Odds Against Tomorrow by Nathaniel Rich
While working for a mysterious financial consulting firm that offers insurance to corporations impending catastrophic events, a gifted young mathematician becomes increasingly obsessed with doomsday scenarios until one of his actual worst-case scenarios unfolds in Manhattan.
Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood
"Oryx and Crake" is at once an unforgettable love story and a compelling vision of the future. Snowman, known as Jimmy before mankind was overwhelmed by a plague, is struggling to survive in a world where he may be the last human and mourning the loss of his best friend, Crake, and the beautiful and elusive Oryx whom they both loved. In search of answers, Snowman embarks on a journey, with the help of the green-eyed Children of Crake, through the lush wilderness that was so recently a great city, until powerful corporations took mankind on an uncontrolled genetic engineering ride. Margaret Atwood projects us into a near future that is both all too familiar and beyond our imagining.
Solar by Ian McEwan
When Nobel prize-winning physicist Michael Beard's personal and professional lives begin to intersect in unexpected ways, an opportunity presents itself in the guise of an invitation to travel to New Mexico. Here is a chance for him to extricate himself from his marital problems, reinvigorate his career, and very possibly save the world from environmental disaster.
The Water Knife by Paolo Bacigalupi
Decimated by drought, Nevada and Arizona skirmish over dwindling shares of the Colorado River, while California watches, waiting. Into the fray steps Las Vegas water knife Angel Velasquez, who "cuts" water for the Southern Nevada Water Authority and its boss, Catherine Case, ensuring that her lush, luxurious arcology developments can bloom in the desert and that anyone who challenges her is left in the gutted-suburban dust. Angel becomes a pawn in a game far bigger, more corrupt, and dirtier than he could have imagined.
For more information about cli-fi, check out these articles:
Wired
Salon
NPR
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