Futuristic Fiction: #Research for #Writers, Part 16, Climate.

On By stuartakenIn Author, Book, Creative Writer, Fiction, Nature, politics, question

The introduction to this series is here.

This post looks at Climate.

For most writers of future fiction, this is a no-brainer. We’ve made ourselves familiar with the science, understand the realities, know the world is utterly unprepared to deal with what is now correctly termed a ‘climate emergency’. We know governments, Big Business, led by vested interest, will be fatally slow to act. And very many of the general population, led into ignorance by those in authority, will fail to comprehend the reality of what is fast approaching.

So, if we’re to include this topic in our fiction we need to make sure we’ve researched it as fully as possible. This is especially true for those interested in stories set on Earth, but it can also be an important factor in other future fiction; perhaps it’s the reason your explorers left the world behind in search of a more pristine world to populate.

Will conspiracy theorists bent on denying climate change, or humanity’s responsibility for it, spread their fear-inspired lies to influence enough people and industries to enable the emergency to occur sooner and in a more violent way? Will China’s reliance on coal, the USA’s dependence on petrol and diesel, Saudi Arabia’s greed over profits from its fuel sales, Europe’s inability to reach a cohesive agreement, the UK’s utter confusion and incompetence at Government level, all impact on the outcome? And, if so, how?

What may be the actual consequences of allowing the climate emergency to occur? Will it bring major floods, drought, increasingly strong and destructive storms, other weather extremes? Will the resulting starvation, desperation for drinking water, greed for resources, problems of overpopulation, result in all-out war?
Or, is it just possible voices of reason in the UN, some developed countries, among the young led by Greta Thunberg and others, even the general population alerted to the real dangers, may act to prevent this coming catastrophe? Perhaps your fiction can be positive, affirming, hopeful rather than the more obvious dystopian theme?

These are some suggestions I make for consideration if you’re including the idea of climate in your story. I’m sure you can think of many more. Please feel free to let us know your ideas, using the comment space below the post.

Part 1, Introduction and Accommodation. Part 2, Activism. Part 3, Advertising. Part 4, Agriculture. Part 5, Artificial Intelligence. Part 6, Animals, as Pets. Part 7, Art. Part 8, Authority. Part 9, Banking. Part 10, Beauty. Part 11, Blasphemy. Part 12, Business. Part 13, Capitalism. Part 14, Cars. Part 15, Celebrity.

Research examples:

Carbon Brief
Unep
ClimateEmergency
Wikipedia
Spectator
Sustain Trends
The Green Party
Greenpeace

16 thoughts on “Futuristic Fiction: #Research for #Writers, Part 16, Climate.”

    1. I agree, Aashwinshanker. But we need to start acting now. Time for words is over. Governments and Big Business must start changing now, and quickly.

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  4. It would be good to read a climate change story or novel that ends on a more hopeful note. How do you classify a book like “The Chrysalids?” The characters experience extreme climate change as the result of nuclear proliferation, not from the slower climate change reality that we are dealing with now. Much of what he writes still applies to modern times, though (sadly, even nuclear weapons). I read this book in high school and fell in love with it. I then read all of his novels, natch. He prompted me to think about many, many things.

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    1. Like you, Lynette, I read almost everything John Wyndham wrote when I was a teenager. All really good stories, and all bearing a message of one sort or another. He, along with Ray Bradbury, Isaac Azimov, and a Aldous Huxley and one or two others, was responsible for me moving into the fiuelds of science fiction and fantasy in my own writing. Inspiring writers.

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        1. Just like you, Lynette, I read so much in my early years, sometimes reading 3 books a day! Mind you, we had no TV until I was 14 years old, and I’ve spent several of my early years in my 20s without the distraction of the idiots’ lantern. Reading was my first love when it came to both entertainment and learning. Getting lost in a book was a common experience, and stil is. Valerie knows she has to catch my attention by saying my name if I’m reading, even now.

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          1. I don’t get much time to read for pleasure (I have to do a lot of reading for work); I’m looking forward to being able to look up from a book and say, “I’m sorry, I didn’t hear you because I was just so engrossed.” 15 months to go!

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            1. I know that feeling well, Lynette. I used to have to do a lot of very dry, legal, reading for one of my many jobs. These days, the only thing that stops me reading more is my lack of energy, but I still manage to read more than many people.
              Your day will come, and 15 months will soon pass. I bet, like me, when you retire you’ll be so busy you’ll wonder how you ever found time to go to work!

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  6. Climate Change is real, and the world is witnessing the destruction caused by it. Unfortunately, many misguided people and their leaders deny it. Here, in Florida, the governor denied climate change – https://www.miamiherald.com/news/state/florida/article12983720.html This is a very important subject for me. I’ve written about it here – https://indiawasone.medium.com/our-earth-b13516d40e29 and here – https://indiawasone.medium.com/future-46056f6f84a7 I sincerely hope the idiots get their heads out of the sand (ostrich mentality) and acknowledge that it is real.

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    1. Thanks for the links, Asit. Like you, I hope these people get real and stop beleiving the fairy tales. But I have serious doubts that humanity will do enough to prevent serious change to the environment. Too much vested interest, too much love of the profits that can be made from selling crap to idiots. I fear it will be too late to prevent certain catastrophic changes by the time enough leaders of states and companies take action, unfortunately. It’s the kids I really feel for: what sort of world have we left them?

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