Brian Burt's Blog: Work in Progress - Posts Tagged "cli-fi"

SF writers have always drawn inspiration from emerging scientific trends and developments, especially those that spark popular controversy. It's not surprising, then, that quite a few writers have set recent novels in worlds turned upside down - or at least sideways - by global warming. My own first novel, Aquarius Rising: In the Tears of God, has climate change as its central theme, and enough books and authors have used global warming as a story driver that media sources like NPR proclaim a new literary genre called "climate fiction" or "cli-fi" (see So Hot Right Now: Has Climate Change Created A New Literary Genre?). This has prompted many speculative fiction veterans to sigh, roll their eyes, and point out (with muted disdain) that this is nothing new: SF has a rich history of tackling environmental themes, and "cli-fi" is at best a loose subcategory of classic science fiction.

I definitely see why the SF community bristles at the implication that this style of fiction represents something completely new. Great SF writers have indeed explored the territory that includes climate change, environmental disaster, and ecological imbalance for decades and have found fertile ground there. (Fertile for the writers' imaginations; perhaps not so fertile for the story's characters who may be left wandering through parched and barren hellscapes.) As I mentioned in a prior post, Frank Herbert's Dune series is a perfect example. Kim Stanley Robinson has mined this rich story vein brilliantly for years. And I still remember being mesmerized by Ursula Le Guin's The Word for World is Forest.

So, for SF fans, this is nothing new. What's changed, then (besides the melting polar ice, rising seas, violent weather patterns, and mean Earth temperature)? I'd say two major factors contributed to the emergence of "cli-fi" in the public eye. First, the evidence for global warming has become dramatically visible to people in their everyday lives. Extreme weather events and the nearly unanimous consensus of climate scientists have gradually shifted popular perception of this issue. Even the deniers grudgingly admit that something is happening, although they might argue about the root causes. Second, the theme of climate change has begun appearing in the work of acclaimed "mainstream" literary fiction writers like Barbara Kingsolver, Ian McEwan, and Margaret Atwood, to name a few. Although this rankles some SF folks who feel that we're treated like "second-class literary citizens," the reality is that mainstream literary writers carry more weight with many media sources.

New genre or simply newly recognized SF sub-genre, this can be a positive development for writers of speculative fiction with a passion for environmental themes. And, for those of us who also feel impassioned about environmental causes, it's a win-win. I believe fiction can communicate messages (like "we're mortgaging our planet's future for short-term economic gain") in ways that are more visceral than nonfiction books addressing similar concerns. Facts can move the mind, but fiction can move the spirit. Fiction writing is not activism... but infusing core beliefs into a story can make that tale more vivid and thought-provoking if it's not done in a preachy, heavy-handed way.

Is it really cli-fi or just good ol' sci-fi? Ultimately, I don't care, as long as readers enjoy the books and consider the implications. SF has a proud history of presenting cautionary tales about possible dystopian futures, and I for one think that just might help humanity avoid them!

BTW, for those interested, my local environmental organization interviewed me about the inspiration for my own "climate fiction" novel on their blog recently. Feel free to check it out if you're interested!
WMEAC Member Writes Climate Change Sci-Fi Novel

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I'm honored to have a guest post featured in SFFWorld -- one of the premier websites for science fiction, fantasy, and horror -- this week on the topic of Climate Fiction. It's a subject near and dear to my heart, and many thanks to Dag Rambraut and the staff of SFFWorld for allowing me to contribute.

There may be a follow-up online panel debate on this topic hosted in the SFFWorld forums as well. I'll keep you posted. In the meantime, please check out the guest post about cli-fi!

What Is Cli-Fi and Why Does It Matter? by Brian Burt

This is a scary time for the health of the planet. Earth’s biosphere is under stress from myriad human causes. Climate scientists have reached nearly unanimous consensus about the existential threat of human-induced global warming. Scientific organizations like the Union of Concerned Scientists, and activist groups like 350.org, fight to raise public awareness of the issue and its implications. While the entire biosphere is under siege, many believe that the oceans are the canary in the coal mine. Recent scientific surveys report that more than 70% of the Great Barrier Reef’s shallow water corals north of Port Douglas are now dead; 29% died from bleaching in 2016 alone.

These findings paint a grim picture for the oceans and the world. Still, the U.S. remains hopelessly embroiled in political debate over scientific facts that are accepted by almost all climate experts around the globe. Why? And how do we break the deadlock?

Scientific and environmental advocacy groups are certainly crucial to sway public opinion, and they continue to present the evidence. But polls have shown that too many Americans remain utterly entrenched in their beliefs on this issue, ignoring arguments to the contrary. A growing movement within fiction-writing circles hopes to shift hearts and minds in ways that rational debate simply hasn’t been able to achieve. The emerging literary genre of “climate fiction” (also known as “cli-fi”) or “eco-fiction” features gifted authors of traditional science fiction, fantasy, and mainstream fiction who are channeling their imaginations to portray the potential future of an Earth ravaged by climate change.

Renowned mainstream writers like Barbara Kingsolver (Flight Behavior) and Margaret Atwood (Oryx and Crake) have contributed novels that strike a chord with readers, affecting them on a visceral level that rational scientific argument simply hasn’t yet been able to duplicate. Of course, science fiction lovers like myself would argue that this is nothing new; brilliant SF authors like Frank Herbert (with his Dune series) and Kim Stanley Robinson (with his Mars series) have been dramatically illustrating the vital importance of environmental stewardship for decades.

My own award-winning science fiction trilogy, Aquarius Rising, explores a future Earth where global warming, and a disastrous attempt to reverse it, have forced humans to adapt to radically altered ecological niches. The bulk of the action takes place in the coastal shallows of the Eastern Pacific Ocean, where human-dolphin hybrids called Aquarians have built thriving reef communities amid the ruins of drowned human cities. This is no utopia by any means. Genetic engineering (biosculpting) is vital to allow the Aquarians to combat the ravages of ocean acidification and rising temperatures. They face an ongoing threat from human scientists clinging to the desiccated lands who strive to resurrect the continents at any cost. It is a brutal, bruising vision of one possible future we might face if we fail to act soon to mitigate climate change. While it offers hope for a successful outcome, it presents a cautionary tale that is representative of the works within this vibrant new literary genre.

Can fiction of this kind succeed where raw, unadorned facts have failed to convince so many Americans? I don’t honestly know. But I do believe in the power of story, of imagination, to move us. So do many, many fiction writers across many genres. Climate change is daunting when it acidifies our oceans, destroys ancient reefs, melts polar ice, and leads to relentless sea level rise that threatens to swallow coastal cities. Let’s hope that the combination of science fact and fiction can succeed where either, alone, seems doomed to fail.

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