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Climate fiction (sometimes shortened to cli-fi) is
literature Literature is any collection of Writing, written work, but it is also used more narrowly for writings specifically considered to be an art form, especially novels, Play (theatre), plays, and poetry, poems. It includes both print and Electroni ...
that deals with
climate change Present-day climate change includes both global warming—the ongoing increase in Global surface temperature, global average temperature—and its wider effects on Earth's climate system. Climate variability and change, Climate change in ...
.Glass, Rodge (31 May 2013).
Global Warning: The Rise of 'Cli-fi'
retrieved 3 March 2016
Generally
speculative Speculative may refer to: In arts and entertainment *Speculative art (disambiguation) *Speculative fiction, which includes elements created out of human imagination, such as the science fiction and fantasy genres ** Speculative Fiction Group, a Pe ...
in nature but inspired by
climate science Climatology (from Greek , ''klima'', "slope"; and , '' -logia'') or climate science is the scientific study of Earth's climate, typically defined as weather conditions averaged over a period of at least 30 years. Climate concerns the atmospher ...
, works of climate fiction may take place in the world as we know it, in the near future, or in fictional worlds experiencing climate change. The genre frequently includes
science fiction Science fiction (often shortened to sci-fi or abbreviated SF) is a genre of speculative fiction that deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts. These concepts may include information technology and robotics, biological manipulations, space ...
and dystopian or utopian themes, imagining potential futures based on research about the impacts of climate change and speculations about how humans may respond to these and the problem of climate change. Climate fiction typically involves
anthropogenic Anthropogenic ("human" + "generating") is an adjective that may refer to: * Anthropogeny, the study of the origins of humanity Anthropogenic may also refer to things that have been generated by humans, as follows: * Human impact on the enviro ...
climate change and other environmental issues as opposed to weather and disaster more generally. Technologies such as
climate engineering Geoengineering (also known as climate engineering or climate intervention) is the deliberate large-scale interventions in the Earth’s climate system intended to counteract human-caused climate change. The term commonly encompasses two broad cate ...
or climate adaptation practices often feature prominently in works exploring their impacts on society. The term "cli-fi" is generally credited to freelance news reporter and climate activist Dan Bloom, who coined it in either 2007 or 2008. References to "climate fiction" appear to have begun in the 2010s, although the term has also been retroactively applied to a number of works. Pioneering 20th century authors of climate fiction include
J. G. Ballard James Graham Ballard (15 November 193019 April 2009) was an English novelist and short-story writer, satirist and essayist known for psychologically provocative works of fiction that explore the relations between human psychology, technology, s ...
and
Octavia E. Butler Octavia Estelle Butler (June 22, 1947 – February 24, 2006) was an American science fiction writer who won several awards for her works, including Hugo, Locus, and Nebula awards. In 1995, Butler became the first science-fiction writer to recei ...
, while dystopian fiction from
Margaret Atwood Margaret Eleanor Atwood (born November 18, 1939) is a Canadian novelist, poet, literary critic, and an inventor. Since 1961, she has published 18 books of poetry, 18 novels, 11 books of nonfiction, nine collections of short fiction, eight chi ...
is often cited as an immediate precursor to the genre's emergence. Since 2010, prominent cli-fi authors include
Kim Stanley Robinson Kim Stanley Robinson (born March 23, 1952) is an American science fiction writer best known for his ''Mars'' trilogy. Many of his novels and stories have ecological, cultural, and political themes and feature scientists as heroes. Robinson has ...
,
Richard Powers Richard Powers (born June 18, 1957) is an American novelist whose works explore the effects of modern science and technology. His novel ''The Echo Maker'' won the 2006 National Book Award for Fiction.Paolo Bacigalupi Paolo Tadini Bacigalupi (born August 6, 1972) is an American science fiction and fantasy writer. He has won the Hugo, Nebula, John W. Campbell Memorial, Compton Crook, Theodore Sturgeon, and Michael L. Printz awards, and has been nominated ...
, and
Barbara Kingsolver Barbara Ellen Kingsolver (born April 8, 1955) is a Pulitzer Prize-winning American novelist, essayist, and poet. Her widely known works include '' The Poisonwood Bible'', the tale of a missionary family in the Congo, and '' Animal, Vegetable, Mira ...
. The publication of Robinson's ''
The Ministry for the Future ''The Ministry for the Future'' is a climate fiction ("cli-fi") novel by American science fiction writer Kim Stanley Robinson published in 2020. Set in the near future, the novel follows a subsidiary body, established under the Paris Agreement, ...
'' in 2020 helped cement the genre's emergence; the work generated presidential and United Nations mentions and an invitation for Robinson to meet planners at the Pentagon. University courses on literature and environmental issues may include climate change fiction in their
syllabi A syllabus (; : syllabuses or syllabi) or specification is a document that communicates information about an academic course or class and defines expectations and responsibilities. It is generally an overview or summary of the curriculum. A sylla ...
. This body of literature has been discussed by a variety of publications, including ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
'', ''
The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...
'', and ''
Dissent Dissent is an opinion, philosophy or sentiment of non-agreement or opposition to a prevailing idea or policy enforced under the authority of a government, political party or other entity or individual. A dissenting person may be referred to as ...
'' magazine, among other international media outlets. Lists of climate fiction have been compiled by organizations including Grist, Outside Magazine, and the New York Public Library. Academics and critics study the potential impact of fiction on the broader field of climate change communication.


Terminology

Bloom had used the term to describe his novella ''Polar City Red'', a post-apocalyptic story about
climate refugees Climate migration is a subset of climate-related mobility that refers to movement driven by the impact of sudden or gradual climate-exacerbated disasters, such as "abnormally heavy rainfalls, prolonged droughts, desertification, environmental de ...
in Alaska set in 2075, which was not commercially successful. It later came into mainstream media use in April 2013, when ''
Christian Science Monitor ''The Christian Science Monitor'' (''CSM''), commonly known as ''The Monitor'', is a nonprofit news organization that publishes daily articles both in electronic format and a weekly print edition. It was founded in 1908 as a daily newspaper b ...
'' and
NPR National Public Radio (NPR) is an American public broadcasting organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It serves as a national Radio syndication, syndicator to a network of more ...
ran stories about a new literary movement of novels and films that dealt with human-induced
climate change Present-day climate change includes both global warming—the ongoing increase in Global surface temperature, global average temperature—and its wider effects on Earth's climate system. Climate variability and change, Climate change in ...
. Bloom had been critical of the lack of mention of his role in coining the term in these features. Scott Thill wrote in ''
HuffPost ''HuffPost'' (''The Huffington Post'' until 2017, itself often abbreviated as ''HPo'') is an American progressive news website, with localized and international editions. The site offers news, satire, blogs, and original content, and covers p ...
'' in 2014 that he had popularised the term in 2009, inspired by the mixture of science and fiction in
Franny Armstrong Franny Armstrong (born 3 February 1972) is a British documentary film director working for her own company, Spanner Films, and a former drummer with indie pop group The Band of Holy Joy. She is best known for three films: '' The Age of Stupid ...
's film ''
The Age of Stupid ''The Age of Stupid'' is a 2009 British docufiction film directed by Franny Armstrong, with first-time producer Lizzie Gillett. The executive producer is John Battsek. The film is a drama-documentary-animation hybrid. It combines documentary ...
''.


History

Jules Verne Jules Gabriel Verne (;''Longman Pronunciation Dictionary''. ; 8 February 1828 – 24 March 1905) was a French novelist, poet and playwright. His collaboration with the publisher Pierre-Jules Hetzel led to the creation of the ''Voyages extraor ...
's 1889 novel ''
The Purchase of the North Pole ''The Purchase of the North Pole'' or ''Topsy-Turvy'' () is an adventure novel by Jules Verne, published in 1889. It is the third and last novel of the Baltimore Gun Club, first appearing in ''From the Earth to the Moon'', and later in '' Around ...
'' imagines climate change due to tilting of Earth's axis. In his posthumous ''
Paris in the Twentieth Century ''Paris in the Twentieth Century'' () is a science fiction novel by Jules Verne. The book presents Paris in August 1960, 97 years in Verne's future, when society places value only on business and technology. Written in 1863, but first published ...
'', written in 1883 and set during the 1960s, the eponymous city experiences a sudden drop in temperature, which lasts for three years.
Laurence Manning Laurence Manning (July 20, 1899 – April 10, 1972) was a Canadian science fiction author. Early life Manning was born in Saint John, New Brunswick, and attended Kings College in Halifax, Nova Scotia. As did his two older brothers, Manning si ...
's 1933 serialized novel '' The Man Who Awoke'' has been described as an exemplary work of ecological science fiction from the golden age. It tells the story a man who awakes from
suspended animation Suspended animation is the slowing or stopping of biological function so that physiological capabilities are preserved. States of suspended animation are common in micro-organisms and some plant tissue, such as seeds. Many animals, including l ...
in various future eras and learns about the destruction to the Earth's climate, caused by overuse of fossil fuels,
global warming Present-day climate change includes both global warming—the ongoing increase in global average temperature—and its wider effects on Earth's climate system. Climate change in a broader sense also includes previous long-term changes ...
, and
deforestation Deforestation or forest clearance is the removal and destruction of a forest or stand of trees from land that is then converted to non-forest use. Deforestation can involve conversion of forest land to farms, ranches, or urban use. Ab ...
. People of the future refer to 20th century humans as "the wasters". They have abandoned over-industrialization and
consumerism Consumerism is a socio-cultural and economic phenomenon that is typical of industrialized societies. It is characterized by the continuous acquisition of goods and services in ever-increasing quantities. In contemporary consumer society, the ...
to live in small self-sufficient villages based around genetically engineered trees that provide all their necessities.
Isaac Asimov Isaac Asimov ( ;  – April 6, 1992) was an Russian-born American writer and professor of biochemistry at Boston University. During his lifetime, Asimov was considered one of the "Big Three" science fiction writers, along with Robert A. H ...
credited ''The Man Who Awoke'' for bringing the "
energy crisis An energy crisis or energy shortage is any significant Bottleneck (production), bottleneck in the supply of energy resources to an economy. In literature, it often refers to one of the energy sources used at a certain time and place, in particu ...
" to his attention 40 years before it became common knowledge in the 1970s. Several well-known
dystopia A dystopia (lit. "bad place") is an imagined world or society in which people lead wretched, dehumanized, fearful lives. It is an imagined place (possibly state) in which everything is unpleasant or bad, typically a totalitarian or environmen ...
n works by British author
J. G. Ballard James Graham Ballard (15 November 193019 April 2009) was an English novelist and short-story writer, satirist and essayist known for psychologically provocative works of fiction that explore the relations between human psychology, technology, s ...
deal with climate-related natural disasters. In ''
The Wind from Nowhere ''The Wind from Nowhere'' is a science fiction novel by English author J. G. Ballard. Published in 1962, it was his debut novel. He had previously published only short stories. The novel was the first of a series of Ballard novels dealing with ...
'' (1961), civilization is devastated by persistent hurricane-force winds, and ''
The Drowned World ''The Drowned World'' (1962), by J. G. Ballard, is a British science fiction novel that depicts a post-apocalyptic future in which global warming, caused by increased solar radiation, has rendered uninhabitable much of the surface of planet ...
'' (1962) describes a future of melted ice-caps and rising sea-levels caused by
solar radiation Sunlight is the portion of the electromagnetic radiation which is emitted by the Sun (i.e. solar radiation) and received by the Earth, in particular the visible light perceptible to the human eye as well as invisible infrared (typically p ...
. In '' The Burning World'' (1964, later retitled ''The Drought'') his climate catastrophe is human-made, a
drought A drought is a period of drier-than-normal conditions.Douville, H., K. Raghavan, J. Renwick, R.P. Allan, P.A. Arias, M. Barlow, R. Cerezo-Mota, A. Cherchi, T.Y. Gan, J. Gergis, D.  Jiang, A.  Khan, W.  Pokam Mba, D.  Rosenfeld, J. Tierney, ...
due to disruption of the precipitation cycle by
industrial pollution Pollution is the introduction of contaminants into the natural environment that cause harm. Pollution can take the form of any substance (solid, liquid, or gas) or energy (such as radioactivity, heat, sound, or light). Pollutants, the component ...
.
Frank Herbert Franklin Patrick Herbert Jr. (October 8, 1920February 11, 1986) was an American science-fiction author, best known for his 1965 novel Dune (novel), ''Dune'' and its five sequels. He also wrote short stories and worked as a newspaper journalist, ...
's 1965 science fiction novel ''Dune'', set on a fictional desert planet, has been proposed as a pioneer of climate fiction for its themes of ecology and environmentalism.
Octavia E. Butler Octavia Estelle Butler (June 22, 1947 – February 24, 2006) was an American science fiction writer who won several awards for her works, including Hugo, Locus, and Nebula awards. In 1995, Butler became the first science-fiction writer to recei ...
's ''
Parable of the Sower The Parable of the Sower (sometimes called the Parable of the Soils) is a Parables of Jesus, parable of Jesus found in , , and the apocrypha, extra-canonical Gospel of Thomas. Jesus tells of a farmer who sows seed indiscriminately. Some seed ...
(''1993) imagines a near-future for the United States where climate change, wealth inequality, and corporate greed cause apocalyptic chaos. Here, and in sequel ''Parable of the Talents'' (1998), Butler dissects how instability and political demagoguery exacerbate society's underlying cruelty (especially with regards to racism and sexism) and also explores themes of survival and resilience. Butler wrote the novel "thinking about the future, thinking about the things that we're doing now and the kind of future we're buying for ourselves, if we're not careful." As
scientific knowledge Science is a systematic discipline that builds and organises knowledge in the form of testable hypotheses and predictions about the universe. Modern science is typically divided into twoor threemajor branches: the natural sciences, which stu ...
of the effects of fossil fuel consumption and resulting increase in atmospheric concentrations entered the public and political arena as "
global warming Present-day climate change includes both global warming—the ongoing increase in global average temperature—and its wider effects on Earth's climate system. Climate change in a broader sense also includes previous long-term changes ...
", human-caused climate change entered works of fiction. Susan M. Gaines's '' Carbon Dreams'' (2000) was an early example of a literary novel that "tells a story about the devastatingly serious issue of human-induced climate change", set in the 1980s and published before the term "cli-fi" was coined.
Michael Crichton John Michael Crichton (; October 23, 1942 – November 4, 2008) was an American author, screenwriter and filmmaker. His books have sold over 200 million copies worldwide, and over a dozen have been adapted into films. His literary works heavil ...
's ''
State of Fear ''State of Fear'' is a 2004 techno-thriller novel by Michael Crichton, his fourteenth under his own name and twenty-fourth overall, in which eco-terrorism, eco-terrorists plot mass murder to publicize the danger of global warming. Despite being ...
'' (2004), a
techno-thriller A techno-thriller or technothriller is a hybrid genre drawing from science fiction, thrillers, spy fiction, action, and war novels. They include a disproportionate amount (relative to other genres) of technical details on their subject matter ...
, was a bestseller upon its release but was criticised by scientists for portraying climate change as "a vast pseudo-scientific hoax" and rejecting the scientific consensus on climate change. Sigbjørn Skåden's novel ''Fugl'' (2019) is a
Sámi Acronyms * SAMI, ''Synchronized Accessible Media Interchange'', a closed-captioning format developed by Microsoft * Saudi Arabian Military Industries, a government-owned defence company * South African Malaria Initiative, a virtual expertise ...
novel written in Norwegian that weaves together environmental collapse with an allegory of
colonialism Colonialism is the control of another territory, natural resources and people by a foreign group. Colonizers control the political and tribal power of the colonised territory. While frequently an Imperialism, imperialist project, colonialism c ...
.
Margaret Atwood Margaret Eleanor Atwood (born November 18, 1939) is a Canadian novelist, poet, literary critic, and an inventor. Since 1961, she has published 18 books of poetry, 18 novels, 11 books of nonfiction, nine collections of short fiction, eight chi ...
explored the subject in her dystopian trilogy ''
Oryx and Crake ''Oryx and Crake'' is a 2003 novel by Canadian author Margaret Atwood. She has described the novel as speculative fiction and adventure romance, rather than pure science fiction, because it does not deal with things "we can't yet do or begin to ...
'' (2003), ''
The Year of the Flood ''The Year of the Flood'' is a novel by Canadian author Margaret Atwood, the second book of her dystopian trilogy, released on September 22, 2009, in Canada and the United States, and on September 7, 2009, in the United Kingdom. The novel was ...
'' (2009) and ''
MaddAddam ''MaddAddam'' is a novel by Canadian writer Margaret Atwood, published on 29 August 2013. ''MaddAddam'' concludes the dystopian trilogy that began with '' Oryx and Crake'' (2003) and continued with ''The Year of the Flood'' (2009). While the plo ...
'' (2013). In ''Oryx and Crake'', Atwood presents a world where "social inequality, genetic technology and catastrophic climate change, has finally culminated in some apocalyptic event". The novel's protagonist, Jimmy, lives in a "world split between corporate compounds", gated communities that have grown into
city-state A city-state is an independent sovereign city which serves as the center of political, economic, and cultural life over its contiguous territory. They have existed in many parts of the world throughout history, including cities such as Rome, ...
s and pleeblands, which are "unsafe, populous and polluted" urban areas where the working classes live. In 2016, Indian writer
Amitav Ghosh Amitav Ghosh (born 11 July 1956)Ghosh, Amitav
, ''
expressed concern that climate change had "a much smaller presence in contemporary literary fiction than it does even in public discussion". In '' The Great Derangement: Climate Change and the Unthinkable'', Ghosh said "if certain literary forms are unable to negotiate these waters, then they will have failed – and their failures will have to be counted as an aspect of the broader imaginative and cultural failure that lies at the heart of the climate crisis." In ''The Anthropocene Unconscious: Climate Catastrophe Culture'', critic Mark Bould suggests the opposite when he argues that the "art and literature of our time is pregnant with catastrophe, with weather and water, wildness and weirdness." By the 2010s, climate fiction had attracted greater prominence and media attention. Cultural critic Josephine Livingston at ''
The New Republic ''The New Republic'' (often abbreviated as ''TNR'') is an American magazine focused on domestic politics, news, culture, and the arts from a left-wing perspective. It publishes ten print magazines a year and a daily online platform. ''The New Y ...
'' wrote in 2020 that "the last decade has seen such a steep rise in sophisticated 'cli-fi' that some literary publications now devote whole verticals to it. With such various and fertile imaginations at work on the same topic, whether in fiction or nonfiction, the challenge facing the environmental writer now is standing out from the crowd (not to mention the headlines)." She highlighted
Jeff Vandermeer Jeff VanderMeer (born July 7, 1968) is an American author, editor, and literary critic. Initially associated with the New Weird literary genre, VanderMeer crossed over into mainstream success with his bestselling Southern Reach Series. The se ...
's ''
Annihilation In particle physics, annihilation is the process that occurs when a subatomic particle collides with its respective antiparticle to produce other particles, such as an electron colliding with a positron to produce two photons. The total energy a ...
'' to Nathaniel Rich's ''Odds Against Tomorrow'' as examples. In
African literature African literature is literature from Africa, either Oral literature, oral ("orature") or written in African languages, African and Afro-Asiatic languages, Afro-Asiatic languages. Examples of Precolonialism, pre-colonial African literature can be ...
, climate informed novels and short stories have been recently receiving attention as a field of contemporary African literature. Books such as ''Eclipse our sins'', by
Tlotlo Tsamaase Tlotlo Tsamaase is a Motswana speculative fiction writer and poet whose writing has been nominated for or won numerous awards. Her fiction has appeared in ''Clarkesworld Magazine'', ''Strange Horizons'', '' Africanfuturism: An Anthology'', '' Af ...
; ''It Doesn’t Have to Be This Way'', by
Alistair Mackay Alistair Forbes Mackay (22 February 1878 – ) was a Scottish physician, biologist, and polar explorer known for being the first, along with Australians Douglas Mawson and Edgeworth David, to reach the South Magnetic Pole on 16 Januar ...
and ''Noor'', by
Nnedi Okorafor Nnedimma Nkemdili "Nnedi" Okorafor (formerly Okorafor-Mbachu; born April 8, 1974) is a Nigerian American writer of science fiction and fantasy for both children and adults. She is best known for her ''Binti Series'' and her novels '' Who Fears ...
, have been highlighted as remarkable publications in the genre.


Prominent examples

The popular science-fiction novelist
Kim Stanley Robinson Kim Stanley Robinson (born March 23, 1952) is an American science fiction writer best known for his ''Mars'' trilogy. Many of his novels and stories have ecological, cultural, and political themes and feature scientists as heroes. Robinson has ...
has been writing on the theme for several decades, including his ''Science in the Capital'' trilogy, which is set in the near future and includes ''
Forty Signs of Rain ''Forty Signs of Rain'' (2004) is the first book in the hard science fiction "Science in the Capital" trilogy by Kim Stanley Robinson. (The following two novels are '' Fifty Degrees Below'', (2005, and '' Sixty Days and Counting'', 2007). Plot ...
'' (2004), '' Fifty Degrees Below'' (2005), and '' Sixty Days and Counting'' (2007). Robert K. J. Killheffer in his review for ''
Fantasy & Science Fiction ''The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction'' (usually referred to as ''F&SF'') is a U.S. fantasy fiction magazine, fantasy and science-fiction magazine, first published in 1949 by Mystery House, a subsidiary of Lawrence E. Spivak, Lawrence Spiv ...
'' said "''Forty Signs of Rain'' is a fascinating depiction of the workings of science and politics, and an urgent call to readers to confront the threat of climate change." Robinson's climate-themed novel, titled '' New York 2140'', was published in March 2017. It gives a complex portrait of a coastal city that is partly underwater and yet has successfully adapted to climate change in its culture and ecology. Robinson's novel ''
The Ministry for the Future ''The Ministry for the Future'' is a climate fiction ("cli-fi") novel by American science fiction writer Kim Stanley Robinson published in 2020. Set in the near future, the novel follows a subsidiary body, established under the Paris Agreement, ...
'', is set in the near future, and follows a subsidiary body, whose mission is to advocate for the world's future generations of citizens as if their rights are as valid as the present generation's. British author
J. G. Ballard James Graham Ballard (15 November 193019 April 2009) was an English novelist and short-story writer, satirist and essayist known for psychologically provocative works of fiction that explore the relations between human psychology, technology, s ...
used the setting of apocalyptic climate change in his early science fiction novels. In ''
The Wind from Nowhere ''The Wind from Nowhere'' is a science fiction novel by English author J. G. Ballard. Published in 1962, it was his debut novel. He had previously published only short stories. The novel was the first of a series of Ballard novels dealing with ...
'' (1961), civilisation is reduced by persistent hurricane-force winds. ''
The Drowned World ''The Drowned World'' (1962), by J. G. Ballard, is a British science fiction novel that depicts a post-apocalyptic future in which global warming, caused by increased solar radiation, has rendered uninhabitable much of the surface of planet ...
'' (1962) describes a future of melted ice-caps and rising sea-levels, caused by solar radiation, creating a landscape mirroring the
collective unconscious In psychology, the collective unconsciousness () is a term coined by Carl Jung, which is the belief that the unconscious mind comprises the instincts of Jungian archetypes—innate symbols understood from birth in all humans. Jung considered th ...
desires of the main characters. In '' The Burning World'' (1964) a surrealistic psychological landscape is formed by drought due to industrial pollution disrupting the
precipitation In meteorology, precipitation is any product of the condensation of atmospheric water vapor that falls from clouds due to gravitational pull. The main forms of precipitation include drizzle, rain, rain and snow mixed ("sleet" in Commonwe ...
cycle. Similarly, ''
The Road ''The Road'' is a 2006 post-apocalyptic novel by American writer Cormac McCarthy. The book details the grueling journey of a father and his young son over several months across a landscape blasted by an unspecified cataclysm that has destroyed ...
'' (2006) by
Cormac McCarthy Cormac McCarthy (born Charles Joseph McCarthy Jr.; July 20, 1933 – June 13, 2023) was an American author who wrote twelve novels, two plays, five screenplays, and three short stories, spanning the Western, post-apocalyptic, and Southern Got ...
is set after an unspecified apocalypse or environmental catastrophe. It won the
Pulitzer Prize for Fiction The Pulitzer Prize for Fiction is one of the seven American Pulitzer Prizes that are annually awarded for Letters, Drama, and Music. It recognizes distinguished fiction by an American author, preferably dealing with American life, published during ...
in 2007. Although it does not explicitly mention climate change, it has been listed by ''
The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...
'' as one of the best climate change novels, and environmentalist
George Monbiot George Joshua Richard Monbiot ( ; born 27 January 1963) is an English journalist, author, and Environmental movement, environmental and political activist. He writes a regular column for ''The Guardian'' and has written several books. Monbiot ...
has described it as "the most important environmental book ever written" for depicting a world without a
biosphere The biosphere (), also called the ecosphere (), is the worldwide sum of all ecosystems. It can also be termed the zone of life on the Earth. The biosphere (which is technically a spherical shell) is virtually a closed system with regard to mat ...
. The novel ''
State of Fear ''State of Fear'' is a 2004 techno-thriller novel by Michael Crichton, his fourteenth under his own name and twenty-fourth overall, in which eco-terrorism, eco-terrorists plot mass murder to publicize the danger of global warming. Despite being ...
'' by
Michael Crichton John Michael Crichton (; October 23, 1942 – November 4, 2008) was an American author, screenwriter and filmmaker. His books have sold over 200 million copies worldwide, and over a dozen have been adapted into films. His literary works heavil ...
, published in December 2004, describes a conspiracy by scientists and others to create public panic about global warming. Crichton had publicly advocated "skepticism" of global warming. Speech at the National Press Club, Washington, D.C. (restored from archived copy) Testimony before the Committee on Environment and Public Works, Washington, D.C. His novel describes a group of
eco-terrorists Eco-terrorism is an act of violence which is committed in support of environmental causes, against people or property. The United States Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) defines eco-terrorism as "...the use or threatened use of violence of ...
attempting to create
natural disaster A natural disaster is the very harmful impact on a society or community brought by natural phenomenon or Hazard#Natural hazard, hazard. Some examples of natural hazards include avalanches, droughts, earthquakes, floods, heat waves, landslides ...
s to convince the public of the dangers of global warming. It is based upon the idea that there is a deliberately alarmist conspiracy behind
climate change activism The climate movement is a global social movement focused on pressuring governments and industry to take action (also called ''climate action'') addressing the causes and impacts of climate change. Citizens and environmental non-profit organizat ...
. The book is critical of the
scientific consensus on climate change There is a nearly unanimous scientific consensus that the Earth has been consistently warming since the start of the Industrial Revolution, that the rate of recent warming is largely unprecedented, and that this warming is mainly the result o ...
. A critique in the BBC News pointed out that "Crichton's trade is to bring pleasurable terror to millions by spinning tales of science gone amok" and "To make sure you get his point, Crichton adds a 32-page footnote documenting his own conviction that global warming is an unscientific scare."
Ian McEwan Ian Russell McEwan (born 21 June 1948) is a British novelist and screenwriter. In 2008, ''The Times'' featured him on its list of "The 50 greatest British writers since 1945" and ''The Daily Telegraph'' ranked him number 19 in its list of the ...
's ''
Solar Solar may refer to: Astronomy * Of or relating to the Sun ** Solar telescope, a special purpose telescope used to observe the Sun ** A device that utilizes solar energy (e.g. "solar panels") ** Solar calendar, a calendar whose dates indicate t ...
'' (2010) follows the story of a physicist who discovers a way to fight climate change after managing to derive power from artificial photosynthesis. ''The Stone Gods'' (2007) by
Jeanette Winterson Jeanette Winterson (born 27 August 1959) is an English author. Her first book, '' Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit'', was a semi-autobiographical novel about a lesbian growing up in an English Pentecostal community. Other novels explore gender ...
is set on the fictional planet Orbus, a world very like Earth, running out of resources and suffering from the severe effects of climate change. Inhabitants of Orbus hope to take advantage of possibilities offered by a newly discovered planet, Planet Blue, which appears perfect for human life. Other authors who have used this subject matter include: * '' Fallen Angels'' (1991) by
Larry Niven Laurence van Cott Niven (; born April 30, 1938) is an American science fiction writer. His 1970 novel ''Ringworld'' won the Hugo Award for Best Novel, Hugo, Locus Award, Locus, Ditmar Award, Ditmar, and Nebula Award for Best Novel, Nebula award ...
,
Jerry Pournelle Jerry Eugene Pournelle (; August 7, 1933 – September 8, 2017) was an American scientist in the area of operations research and ergonomics, human factors research, a science fiction writer, essayist, journalist, and one of the first bloggers. ...
, and
Michael Flynn Michael Thomas Flynn (born 24 December 1958) is a retired United States Army lieutenant general who served as the 24th U.S. national security advisor for the first 22 days of the first Trump administration. He resigned in light of reports tha ...
. Set in North America in the "near future", a radical
technophobic Technophobia (from Greek τέχνη ''technē'', "art, skill, craft" and φόβος ''phobos'', "fear"), also known as technofear, is the fear or dislike of, or discomfort with, advanced technology or complex devices, especially personal computers ...
green Green is the color between cyan and yellow on the visible spectrum. It is evoked by light which has a dominant wavelength of roughly 495570 nm. In subtractive color systems, used in painting and color printing, it is created by a com ...
movement dramatically cuts greenhouse gas emissions, only to find that manmade global warming was staving off a new
ice age An ice age is a long period of reduction in the temperature of Earth's surface and atmosphere, resulting in the presence or expansion of continental and polar ice sheets and alpine glaciers. Earth's climate alternates between ice ages, and g ...
. * '' Mother of Storms'' (1994) by
John Barnes John Charles Bryan Barnes (born 7 November 1963) is a former professional football player and manager. Often considered one of the greatest England players of all time and one of Liverpool's greatest ever players, Barnes currently works as an ...
describes a catastrophic, rapid climate and weather change brought on by a nuclear explosion releasing
clathrate compound A clathrate is a chemical substance consisting of a lattice that traps or contains molecules. The word ''clathrate'' is derived from the Latin (), meaning 'with bars, latticed'. Most clathrate compounds are polymeric and completely envelop the ...
s from the ocean floor, based on the
clathrate gun hypothesis The clathrate gun hypothesis is a proposed explanation for the periods of rapid warming during the Quaternary. The hypothesis is that changes in fluxes in upper intermediate waters in the ocean caused temperature fluctuations that alternately accu ...
. * '' The Swarm'' (2004) by
Frank Schätzing Frank Schätzing (; born 28 May 1957) is a German writer, mostly known for his best-selling science fiction novel '' The Swarm'' (2004). Life Schätzing was born in Cologne and studied communication studies; he later ran his own company, an ...
. The book follows an ensemble of protagonists who are investigating what at first appear to be freak events related to the world's oceans. Seemingly unrelated events like the destabilization of the continental shelf resulting in a megatsunami, whales attacking a commercial freighter, and an outbreak of an epidemic caused by contaminated lobsters are revealed to be caused by an unknown submarine species trying to defend the oceans against human influence. * ''Far North'' (2009) by
Marcel Theroux Marcel Raymond Theroux (born 13 June 1968) is an English-American novelist and broadcaster. He wrote ''A Stranger in The Earth'' and '' The Confessions of Mycroft Holmes: A Paper Chase,'' for which he won the Somerset Maugham Award in 2002. Hi ...
, in which the world is largely uninhabitable due to climate change. However, the novel implies that scientists got it wrong and that it was our actions combating global warming that irrevocably altered the climate. * '' Arctic Drift'' (2008) by
Clive Cussler Clive Eric Cussler (July 15, 1931 – February 24, 2020) was an American adventure novelist and underwater explorer. His thriller novels, many featuring the character Dirk Pitt, have been listed on ''The New York Times'' fiction best-sell ...
and Dirk Cussler. A
thriller Thriller may refer to: * Thriller (genre), a broad genre of literature, film and television ** Thriller film, a film genre under the general thriller genre Comics * ''Thriller'' (DC Comics), a comic book series published 1983–84 by DC Comics i ...
involving attempts to reverse global warming, a possible war between the
United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
and
Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...
, and "a mysterious silvery mineral traced to a long-ago expedition in search of the fabled Northwest Passage." * ''Devolution of a Species'' by M.E. Ellington focuses on the
Gaia hypothesis The Gaia hypothesis (), also known as the Gaia theory, Gaia paradigm, or the Gaia principle, proposes that living organisms interact with their Inorganic compound, inorganic surroundings on Earth to form a Synergy, synergistic and Homeostasis, s ...
, and describes the Earth as a single living organism fighting back against humankind. * '' The Carbon Diaries: 2015'' (2009) by Saci Lloyd is set in a future where power is scarce and the UK has just begun carbon rationing. The story is told in diary form by Laura Brown, a teenager living in
London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
in the aftermath of the Great Storm. *
Barbara Kingsolver Barbara Ellen Kingsolver (born April 8, 1955) is a Pulitzer Prize-winning American novelist, essayist, and poet. Her widely known works include '' The Poisonwood Bible'', the tale of a missionary family in the Congo, and '' Animal, Vegetable, Mira ...
's novel, ''
Flight Behavior ''Flight Behavior'' is a 2012 novel by Barbara Kingsolver. It is her seventh novel, a New York Times Bestseller, ''New York Times'' bestseller,Charis Perkins"Barbara Kingsolver talks Trump, #MeToo and the magic of Australia" ''The Australian Fin ...
'' (2012), employs environmental themes and highlights the potential
effects of global warming Effects of climate change are well documented and growing for Earth's natural environment and human societies. Changes to the climate system include an overall warming trend, changes to precipitation patterns, and more extreme weather. As ...
on the
monarch butterfly The monarch butterfly or simply monarch (''Danaus plexippus'') is a milkweed butterfly (subfamily Danainae) in the family Nymphalidae. Other common names, depending on region, include milkweed, common tiger, wanderer, and black-veined brown. I ...
. * Norwegian author Maja Lunde has released a "Climate Quartet" of novels, beginning with ''Bienes histore'' (''The History of Bees'') in 2015, which examines
pollinator decline Pollinator decline is the reduction in abundance of insect and other animal pollinators in many ecosystems worldwide that began being recorded at the end of the 20th century. Multiple lines of evidence exist for the reduction of wild pollinator p ...
through a number of human storylines throughout history, followed by ''The End of the Ocean'' (2017), ''Przewalski's Horse'' (2019) and an upcoming fourth instalment. * ''
The Overstory ''The Overstory'' is a novel by American author Richard Powers, published in 2018 by W. W. Norton & Company. The book follows nine Americans whose unique life experiences with trees bring them together to address the destruction of forests. Thr ...
'' (2018) by
Richard Powers Richard Powers (born June 18, 1957) is an American novelist whose works explore the effects of modern science and technology. His novel ''The Echo Maker'' won the 2006 National Book Award for Fiction.Pulitzer Prize for Fiction The Pulitzer Prize for Fiction is one of the seven American Pulitzer Prizes that are annually awarded for Letters, Drama, and Music. It recognizes distinguished fiction by an American author, preferably dealing with American life, published during ...
. The novel revolves around nine disparate characters with close associations to individual trees, that come together to address
deforestation Deforestation or forest clearance is the removal and destruction of a forest or stand of trees from land that is then converted to non-forest use. Deforestation can involve conversion of forest land to farms, ranches, or urban use. Ab ...
. *
Rajat Chaudhuri Rajat Chaudhuri is an Indian novelist and short story writer. He is the author of the critically acclaimed works ''Hotel Calcutta'' (2013), a short story cycle; ''The Butterfly Effect'' (2018), the novel ''Amber Dusk'' (2007) and other books. He ...
’s novel, ''The Butterfly Effect'' (2018), is a dystopian cli-fi with thriller undercurrents that deals with
genetic engineering Genetic engineering, also called genetic modification or genetic manipulation, is the modification and manipulation of an organism's genes using technology. It is a set of Genetic engineering techniques, technologies used to change the genet ...
, scientific experiments gone wrong and the effect of intertwined disasters. This book has been listed by Book Riot as one of "50 Must-Read Eco Disasters In Fiction". * ''The New Wilderness'' (2020) by
Diane Cook Diane Marie Cook is an American writer currently based in New York. Her debut novel, ''The New Wilderness'' (2020), was shortlisted for the 2020 Booker Prize. Biography and career After studying and writing fiction at university, Cook attende ...
is set in North America where climate change has affected the natural environment. It was shortlisted for the 2020 Booker Prize. * ''
Bewilderment ''Bewilderment'' is a 2021 novel by Richard Powers, published on September 21, 2021, by W. W. Norton & Company. It is Powers' thirteenth novel, his first since winning the 2019 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction for his novel ''The Overstory'' (2018). ...
'' (2021) by
Richard Powers Richard Powers (born June 18, 1957) is an American novelist whose works explore the effects of modern science and technology. His novel ''The Echo Maker'' won the 2006 National Book Award for Fiction.2021 Booker Prize The 2021 Booker Prize for Fiction was announced on 3 November 2021, during a ceremony at the BBC Radio Theatre. The longlist was announced on 27 July 2021. The shortlist was announced on 14 September 2021. The Booker Prize, Prize – which was c ...
. It was also longlisted for the 2021
National Book Award for Fiction The National Book Award for Fiction is one of five annual National Book Awards, which recognize outstanding literary work by United States citizens. Since 1987, the awards have been administered and presented by the National Book Foundation, bu ...
. It was selected by
Oprah Winfrey Oprah Gail Winfrey (; born Orpah Gail Winfrey; January 29, 1954) is an American television presenter, talk show host, television producer, actress, author, and media proprietor. She is best known for her talk show, ''The Oprah Winfrey Show' ...
as part of ''
Oprah's Book Club Oprah's Book Club was a book discussion club segment of the American talk show '' The Oprah Winfrey Show'', highlighting books chosen by host Oprah Winfrey. Winfrey started the book club in 1996, selecting a new book, usually a novel, for view ...
'' on 28 September 2021.


Description of apocalyptic scenarios

" Climate apocalypse scenarios" are explored in multiple
science fiction Science fiction (often shortened to sci-fi or abbreviated SF) is a genre of speculative fiction that deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts. These concepts may include information technology and robotics, biological manipulations, space ...
works. For example, in ''
The Wind from Nowhere ''The Wind from Nowhere'' is a science fiction novel by English author J. G. Ballard. Published in 1962, it was his debut novel. He had previously published only short stories. The novel was the first of a series of Ballard novels dealing with ...
'' (1961), civilization is devastated by persistent hurricane-force winds, and ''
The Drowned World ''The Drowned World'' (1962), by J. G. Ballard, is a British science fiction novel that depicts a post-apocalyptic future in which global warming, caused by increased solar radiation, has rendered uninhabitable much of the surface of planet ...
'' (1962) describes a future of melted ice-caps and rising sea-levels caused by
solar radiation Sunlight is the portion of the electromagnetic radiation which is emitted by the Sun (i.e. solar radiation) and received by the Earth, in particular the visible light perceptible to the human eye as well as invisible infrared (typically p ...
. In '' The Burning World'' (1964, later retitled ''The Drought'') his climate catastrophe is human-made, a
drought A drought is a period of drier-than-normal conditions.Douville, H., K. Raghavan, J. Renwick, R.P. Allan, P.A. Arias, M. Barlow, R. Cerezo-Mota, A. Cherchi, T.Y. Gan, J. Gergis, D.  Jiang, A.  Khan, W.  Pokam Mba, D.  Rosenfeld, J. Tierney, ...
due to disruption of the precipitation cycle by
industrial pollution Pollution is the introduction of contaminants into the natural environment that cause harm. Pollution can take the form of any substance (solid, liquid, or gas) or energy (such as radioactivity, heat, sound, or light). Pollutants, the component ...
.
Octavia E. Butler Octavia Estelle Butler (June 22, 1947 – February 24, 2006) was an American science fiction writer who won several awards for her works, including Hugo, Locus, and Nebula awards. In 1995, Butler became the first science-fiction writer to recei ...
's ''
Parable of the Sower The Parable of the Sower (sometimes called the Parable of the Soils) is a Parables of Jesus, parable of Jesus found in , , and the apocrypha, extra-canonical Gospel of Thomas. Jesus tells of a farmer who sows seed indiscriminately. Some seed ...
'' (1993) imagines a near-future for the United States where climate change, wealth inequality, and corporate greed cause apocalyptic chaos. Here, and in sequel ''Parable of the Talents'' (1998), Butler dissects how instability and political demagoguery exacerbate society's underlying cruelty (especially with regards to racism and sexism) and also explores themes of survival and resilience. Butler wrote the novel "thinking about the future, thinking about the things that we're doing now and the kind of future we're buying for ourselves, if we're not careful."
Margaret Atwood Margaret Eleanor Atwood (born November 18, 1939) is a Canadian novelist, poet, literary critic, and an inventor. Since 1961, she has published 18 books of poetry, 18 novels, 11 books of nonfiction, nine collections of short fiction, eight chi ...
explored the subject in her dystopian trilogy ''
Oryx and Crake ''Oryx and Crake'' is a 2003 novel by Canadian author Margaret Atwood. She has described the novel as speculative fiction and adventure romance, rather than pure science fiction, because it does not deal with things "we can't yet do or begin to ...
'' (2003), ''
The Year of the Flood ''The Year of the Flood'' is a novel by Canadian author Margaret Atwood, the second book of her dystopian trilogy, released on September 22, 2009, in Canada and the United States, and on September 7, 2009, in the United Kingdom. The novel was ...
'' (2009) and ''
MaddAddam ''MaddAddam'' is a novel by Canadian writer Margaret Atwood, published on 29 August 2013. ''MaddAddam'' concludes the dystopian trilogy that began with '' Oryx and Crake'' (2003) and continued with ''The Year of the Flood'' (2009). While the plo ...
'' (2013). In ''Oryx and Crake'', Atwood presents a world where "social inequality, genetic technology and catastrophic climate change, has finally culminated in some apocalyptic event".


Other examples

* ''Heat'' (1977), by
Arthur Herzog Arthur Herzog III (April 6, 1927 – May 26, 2010) was an American novelist, non-fiction writer, and journalist, well known for his works of science fiction and true crime books. He was the son of songwriter Arthur Herzog Jr. He was married t ...
, US * '' The Sea and Summer'' 'Drowning Towers''(1987), by George Turner, Australia * '' The Crystal World'' (1988), by
J. G. Ballard James Graham Ballard (15 November 193019 April 2009) was an English novelist and short-story writer, satirist and essayist known for psychologically provocative works of fiction that explore the relations between human psychology, technology, s ...
, UK * '' The Ice People'' (1998) and ''The Flood'' (2004), Magee Gee, US * ''
Earth Earth is the third planet from the Sun and the only astronomical object known to Planetary habitability, harbor life. This is enabled by Earth being an ocean world, the only one in the Solar System sustaining liquid surface water. Almost all ...
'' (1990),
David Brin Glen David Brin (born October 6, 1950) is an American science fiction author. He has won the Hugo Award, Hugo,
, US * ''
A Friend of the Earth ''A Friend of the Earth'' is a 2000 novel by T.C. Boyle. The novel is a story of environmental destruction set in 2025; as a result of global warming and the greenhouse effect, the climate has drastically changed, and, accordingly, biodiversit ...
'' (2000), T.C. Boyle, US * '' Floodland'' (2001) and ''Aurora'' (2011), Marcus Sedgwick, US * ''
Exodus Exodus or the Exodus may refer to: Religion * Book of Exodus, second book of the Hebrew Torah and the Christian Bible * The Exodus, the biblical story of the migration of the ancient Israelites from Egypt into Canaan Historical events * Ex ...
'' (2002) and sequels,
Julie Bertagna Julie Bertagna (born 1962) is a Scottish author who has written real life and science fiction novels for children and young adults. Her books have been shortlisted for several literature awards, including the Carnegie Medal. Her novel ''Exodus ...
, US * ''
Flood A flood is an overflow of water (list of non-water floods, or rarely other fluids) that submerges land that is usually dry. In the sense of "flowing water", the word may also be applied to the inflow of the tide. Floods are of significant con ...
'' (2008) and '' Ark'' (2009), Stephen Baxter, US * ''
The Windup Girl ''The Windup Girl'' is a biopunk science fiction novel by American writer Paolo Bacigalupi. It was his debut novel and was published by Night Shade Books on September 1, 2009. The novel is set in a future Thailand and covers a number of conte ...
'' (2009), ''
Ship Breaker Ship breaking (also known as ship recycling, ship demolition, ship scrapping, ship dismantling, or ship cracking) is a type of ship disposal involving the breaking up of ships either as a source of Interchangeable parts, parts, which can be sol ...
'' (2010), '' The Drowned Cities'' (2012), ''
The Water Knife ''The Water Knife'' is a 2015 science fiction novel by Paolo Bacigalupi. It is Bacigalupi's sixth novel, and is based on his short story, ''The Tamarisk Hunter'', first published in the news magazine ''High Country News''. It takes place in the ...
'' (2015) and ''Tool of War'' (2017),
Paolo Bacigalupi Paolo Tadini Bacigalupi (born August 6, 1972) is an American science fiction and fantasy writer. He has won the Hugo, Nebula, John W. Campbell Memorial, Compton Crook, Theodore Sturgeon, and Michael L. Printz awards, and has been nominated ...
, US * '' Empire Builders'' (2011),
Ben Bova Benjamin William Bova (November 8, 1932November 29, 2020) was an American writer and editor. During a writing career of 60 years, he was the author of more than 120 works of science fact and fiction, an editor of ''Analog Science Fiction and Fac ...
, US * '' 2312'' (2012),
Kim Stanley Robinson Kim Stanley Robinson (born March 23, 1952) is an American science fiction writer best known for his ''Mars'' trilogy. Many of his novels and stories have ecological, cultural, and political themes and feature scientists as heroes. Robinson has ...
, US * ''Odds Against Tomorrow'' (2013), Nathaniel Rich, US * ''
The Bone Clocks ''The Bone Clocks'' is a 2014 novel by British writer David Mitchell. It was long-listed for the Man Booker Prize, and described as one of the best novels of the year by Stephen King. The novel won the 2015 World Fantasy Award. The novel is d ...
'' (2014), David Mitchell, UK * ''The Collapse of Western Civilization'' (2014), by
Naomi Oreskes Naomi Oreskes (; born November 25, 1958) is an American historian of science. She became Professor of the History of Science and Affiliated Professor of Earth and Planetary Sciences at Harvard University in 2013, after 15 years as Professor of H ...
and Erik M. Conway, Columbia University Press, US * ''
Memory of Water ''Memory of Water'' (Finnish: ''Teemestarin kirja'', "The Tea Master's Book") is the debut novel by Finnish author Emmi Itäranta, published in 2014 by HarperCollins. The Finnish version of the novel, which Itäranta wrote simultaneously along w ...
'' (2015), Emmi Itäranta, Finland * '' Gold Fame Citrus'' (2015),
Claire Vaye Watkins Claire Vaye Watkins (born April 9, 1984) is an American author and academic. Her book of short stories '' Battleborn'' (Riverhead Books, 2012), won The Story Prize, among other awards. In 2012 the National Book Foundation named her a " 5 under 3 ...
, US * '' American War'' (2017),
Omar El Akkad Omar El Akkad (born 1982) is an Egyptian-Canadian novelist and journalist, whose novel '' What Strange Paradise'' was the winner of the 2021 Giller Prize. Early life and education Omar El Akkad was born in Cairo, Egypt, and grew up in Doha, ...
, US * ''The Water Cure'' (2018), Sophie Mackintosh, UK * ''
The Last Children of Tokyo ''The Last Children of Tokyo'', originally published in Japanese as , is a 2014 science fiction novel by Yoko Tawada. The English version, translated by Margaret Mitsutani, was published in the UK in 2018. It was published in the US as ''The Em ...
(The Emissary)'' (2018), Yoko Tawada, Germany/Japan * '' The City in the Middle of the Night'' (2019), by
Charlie Jane Anders Charlie Jane Anders (born July 24, 1969) is an American writer specializing in speculative fiction. She has written several novels as well as shorter fiction, published in magazines and on websites, and hosted podcasts; these works cater to both ...
* ''Gun Island'' (2019) by
Amitav Ghosh Amitav Ghosh (born 11 July 1956)Ghosh, Amitav
, ''
* ''The Wall'' (2019), by
John Lanchester John Henry Lanchester (born 25 February 1962) is a British journalist and novelist. He was born in Hamburg, brought up in Hong Kong and educated in England; between 1972 and 1980 at Gresham's School in Holt, Norfolk, then at St John's College, ...
* ''
The Ministry for the Future ''The Ministry for the Future'' is a climate fiction ("cli-fi") novel by American science fiction writer Kim Stanley Robinson published in 2020. Set in the near future, the novel follows a subsidiary body, established under the Paris Agreement, ...
'' (2020), by
Kim Stanley Robinson Kim Stanley Robinson (born March 23, 1952) is an American science fiction writer best known for his ''Mars'' trilogy. Many of his novels and stories have ecological, cultural, and political themes and feature scientists as heroes. Robinson has ...
* '' A Children's Bible'' (2020) by Lydia Millet * ''Migrations'' (2020) by Charlotte McConaghy * ''Depart, Depart'' (2020) by Sim Kern * ''470'' (2020) by Linda Woodrow * ''Diatomea'' (2022), by
Núria Perpinyà Núria Perpinyà Filella (; born 1961) is a Catalan novelist, a playwright and an essayist. Senior Lecturer in Theory and Comparative Literature at the university of Lleida in Catalonia, Spain. Her novels deal with unusual topics and are characte ...
* ''The Light Pirate'' (2022), by Lily Brooks-Dalton * ''Spellcasters: A Novel'' (2023), by
Rajat Chaudhuri Rajat Chaudhuri is an Indian novelist and short story writer. He is the author of the critically acclaimed works ''Hotel Calcutta'' (2013), a short story cycle; ''The Butterfly Effect'' (2018), the novel ''Amber Dusk'' (2007) and other books. He ...
, India * ''The Girl who Rode the Unihorn'' (2024) by mìcheal dubh * ''Juice'' (2024) by
Tim Winton Timothy John Winton (born 4 August 1960) is an Australian writer. He has written novels, children's books, non-fiction books, and short stories. In 1997, he was named a Living Treasure by the National Trust of Australia, and has won the ...
* ''Fairhaven'' (2024) by Jan Lee and Steve Willis


Anthologies and collections

* ''Welcome to the Greenhouse'' (2011) US edited by
Gordon Van Gelder Gordon Van Gelder (born 1966) is an American science fiction editor. From 1997 until 2014, Van Gelder was editor and later publisher of ''The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction'', for which he has twice won the Hugo Award for Best Editor Short ...
* ''Loosed Upon the World: The Saga Anthology of Climate Fiction'' (2015) US edited by
John Joseph Adams John Joseph Adams (born July 31, 1976) is an American science fiction and fantasy editor, critic, and publisher. Career Editor Adams worked as Assistant Editor at ''The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction'' from May 2001 to December 2009. In ...
* ''Drowned Worlds'' (2016) UK edited by
Jonathan Strahan Jonathan Strahan (born 1964, Belfast, Northern Ireland) is an editor and publisher of science fiction, fantasy, and horror. His family moved to Perth, Western Australia in 1968, and he graduated from the University of Western Australia with a ...
* ''Possible Solutions'' (2017) US by Helen Phillips – Many of the short stories concern climate change. * Author and editor Bruce Meyer and creative writing professor at Georgian College edited a 2017 anthology of stories about "changing ocean conditions, the widening disappearance of species, genetically modified organisms, increasing food shortages, mass migrations of refugees, and the hubris behind our provoking Mother Earth herself", which he labels as "cli-fi". The anthology includes works by George McWhirter, Richard Van Camp, Holly Schofield, Linda Rogers, Sean Virgo, Rati Mehrotra, Geoffrey W. Cole, Phil Dwyer, Kate Story, Leslie Goodreid, Nina Munteanu, Halli Villegas, John Oughton, Frank Westcott, Wendy Bone, Peter Timmerman, and Lynn Hutchinson-Lee. * ''Meteotopia - Futures of Climate (In)Justice'' (2022) Collection of short stories on climate and environment by authors of the
Global South Global North and Global South are terms that denote a method of grouping countries based on their defining characteristics with regard to socioeconomics and politics. According to UN Trade and Development (UNCTAD), the Global South broadly com ...
. * ''The Routledge Anthology of Climate Fiction, Volume One'' (2024) edited by
Bill Gillard Bill(s) may refer to: Common meanings * Banknote, paper cash (especially in the United States) * Bill (law), a proposed law put before a legislature * Invoice, commercial document issued by a seller to a buyer * Bill, a bird or animal's beak Plac ...
, a short story collection that makes the argument that the literature of climate change started much earlier than the critical consensus would have it, as early as the 1870s when the effects of industrialization were being explored by science-fiction writers and other artists.


Influence

Many journalists, literary critics, and scholars have speculated about the potential influence of climate fiction on the beliefs of its readers. To date, three empirical studies have examined this question. A controlled experiment found that reading climate fiction short stories "had small but significant positive effects on several important beliefs and attitudes about global warming – observed immediately after participants read the stories", though "these effects diminished to statistical nonsignificance after a one-month interval". However, the authors note that "the effects of a single exposure in an artificial setting may represent a lower bound of the real-world effects. Reading climate fiction in the real world often involves multiple exposures and longer narratives", such as novels, "which may result in larger and longer-lasting impacts". A survey of readers found that readers of climate fiction "are younger, more liberal, and more concerned about climate change than nonreaders", and that climate fiction "reminds concerned readers of the severity of climate change while impelling them to imagine environmental futures and consider the impact of climate change on human and nonhuman life. However, the actions that resulted from readers' heightened consciousness reveal that awareness is only as valuable as the cultural messages about possible actions to take that are in circulation. Moreover, the responses of some readers suggest that works of climate fiction might lead some people to associate climate change with intensely negative emotions, which could prove counterproductive to efforts at environmental engagement or persuasion." Finally, an empirical study focused on the popular novel ''
The Water Knife ''The Water Knife'' is a 2015 science fiction novel by Paolo Bacigalupi. It is Bacigalupi's sixth novel, and is based on his short story, ''The Tamarisk Hunter'', first published in the news magazine ''High Country News''. It takes place in the ...
'' found that cautionary climate fiction set in a dystopic future can be effective at educating readers about climate injustice and leading readers to empathize with the victims of climate change, including
environmental migrant Environmental migrants are people who are forced to leave their home of residency due to sudden or long-term changes to their local or regional environment. These changes compromise their well-being or livelihood, and include increased drought, ...
s. However, its results suggest that dystopic climate narratives might lead to support for reactionary responses to climate change. Based on this result, it cautioned that "not all climate fiction is progressive", despite the hopes of many authors, critics, and readers.


See also

*
Apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic fiction Apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic fiction are genres of speculative fiction in which the Earth's (or another planet's) civilization is collapsing or has collapsed. The apocalypse event may be climatic, such as runaway climate change; astronom ...
*
Climate apocalypse A climate apocalypse is a term used to denote a predicted scenario involving the global collapse of human civilization due to climate change. Such collapse could theoretically arrive through a set of interrelated concurrent factors such as fami ...
*
Ecofiction Ecofiction (also "eco-fiction" or "eco fiction") is the branch of literature that encompasses nature or environment-oriented works of fiction. While this super genre's roots are seen in classic, pastoral, magical realism, animal metamorphoses, sci ...
*
Climate change in popular culture References to climate change in popular culture have existed since the late 20th century and increased in the 21st century. Climate change, its impacts, and related human-environment interactions have been featured in nonfiction books and doc ...
*
Media coverage of climate change Media coverage of climate change has had effects on public opinion on climate change, as it conveys the scientific consensus on climate change that the global temperature has increased in recent decades and that the trend is caused by human-induced ...
*
Mundane science fiction Mundane science fiction (MSF) is a niche literary movement within science fiction that developed in the early 2000s, with principles codified by the "Mundane Manifesto" Geoff Ryman ''et al''. (2004), "The Mundane Manifesto". The manifesto was o ...
*
Petrofiction Petrofiction or oil fiction is a genre of fiction focused on the role of petroleum in society. Background The concept was first developed by Amitav Ghosh to classify literature about the Oil industry, petroleum industry and the impact of oil on s ...
*
Public opinion on climate change file:20210126 Peoples' Climate Vote - Public belief in climate emergency - United Nations Development Programme.svg, upright=1.3, ''Perception of seriousness:'' Results of a survey overseen by the United Nations Development Programme on belief i ...
*
Solarpunk Solarpunk is a literary, artistic, and social movement, close to the hopepunk movement, that envisions and works toward actualizing a sustainable future interconnected with nature and community. The "solar" represents solar energy as a renewable ...
*
Utopian and dystopian fiction Utopian and dystopian fiction are subgenres of speculative fiction that explore extreme forms of social and political structures. Utopian fiction portrays a setting that agrees with the author's ethos, having various attributes of another reality ...


References


Further reading

* * * * * Thieme, John (2023), Anthropocene Realism: Fiction in the Age of Climate Change, Bloomsbury, ISBN 978-1-3502 9603 9, eBook 978-1-3502 9605 3. * * * * * *


External links


Cli-Fi in American Studies: A Research Bibliography

Climate Fiction in English: Oxford Research Encyclopedia

Burning Worlds Column in the Chicago Review of Books

Stories to save the world: the new wave of climate fiction
essay by
Claire Armitstead Claire Armitstead FRSL is a British journalist and author. She is Associate Editor (Culture) at ''The Guardian'', where she has worked since 1992. She is also a cultural commentator on literature and the arts, and makes appearances on radio and t ...
for
The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

Climate Change Dystopia
discusses current popularity of climate change dystopia. {{Global catastrophic risks Literary genres Speculative fiction Dystopian fiction Science fiction themes 2000s neologisms