A Friend of the Earth

The Cli-Fi novel I have been reading is A Friend of the Earth by T.C. Boyle. Unfortunately, this novel did not arrive in the timely fashion that I thought it would so I have not had the opportunity to read as much of it as I would like. However, what I have read has been extremely interesting, yet also confusing. From what I have read, it appears that the novel takes place in the future, where the effects of climate change have dramatically hurt the Earth, and also the human race. The number of animals that currently live on Earth have decreased significantly due to the extreme weather patterns created by climate change. This all seems to make a decent amount of sense, but there is a twist.

          Things start to get confusing when a man who works as a caretaker to animals that are still alive on Earth (In protected places, sort of like a mini zoo) has flashbacks to a time when climate change could have been solved. It is revealed that he was once a radical activist about climate change who participated in violent and dramatic crimes to raise awareness of the damages being done to the planet. My mind immediately jumped to the novel The Monkey Wrench Gang, which a fellow student read earlier in the semester. The violent crimes committed in both novels are shocking to most readers and could result in the death or serious injury of other people.

          So far the book has been very exciting and a great read! I cannot wait to see what else happens throughout this novel. Again, the only really difficult concept to grasp is that the main character has flashbacks and it is not always very clear when those take place. The pace of the novel is decently fast, and can keep any reader interested. Also, the syntax of the novel is easy to understand (minus the flashback parts) and provides the right amount of details. Anyways, I am very excited to read more, and I truly have enjoyed the novel up to this point. 

Solar Storms by Linda Hogan

For my first piece of classic climate change literature I chose to read the novel Solar Storms by Linda Hogan. This novel was published in 1997 and has been a very interesting read so far. The most stand-out aspect of this novel for me was Hogan’s writing style and approach to the subject. She uses great description words to really paint a clear picture of the scene, which is great for keeping a reader like me excited about what will happen next. Also, this book seems to draw some parallels between climate change and humans overall which is quite interesting.

            As I am reading further and further along in this novel it seems that the way the nature is responding to events is similar to that of one of the main characters. Personally, I think this is a great way to help the reader understand more about climate change because it gives a new look on the subject. As awesome as this novel is in many aspects, there are certain parts that were not the most appealing or exciting.

 

            My main disappointment in this novel is that it can be very slow at times. Yes, the language being used and the sentence structure are quite advanced and beautiful, but that does not get points across quickly. I am the kind of person who likes to get the facts and understand everything in as little time as possible. I still greatly admire the writing of Hogan, just wish that in certain areas the novel could pick up a bit and move onto the next component.

Anyway, overall this is a great novel however the target age range is probably a bit higher than that of a high school student. If someone really enjoys deep, descriptive novels, then this one is perfect, especially if you are interested in climate change and looking at different aspects of our climate. So if you are in fact interested in this novel, you can purchase it on Amazon at this link! Also, she has written another novel called Mean Spirit, which I plan on reading in the future! 

Drop in the Ocean Documentary

The documentary “Drop in the Ocean?” (Click on the link to watch the full documentary) was very informational and focused mostly on the effects of climate change on Ireland. I thought this was quite an interesting location to focus on, because it usually is not discussed. Even though most of the video is centered around Ireland there are other topics discussed. For instance, people in politics discussing climate change, people in Africa speaking out about how visible climate change is in their area, and the rising sea levels are also subjects touched upon in this documentary. However, for me, the most interesting aspect of this film is the reactions from the local people of Ireland that they interview to see what people really know about climate change.

            First off, the initial responses from people who live in Ireland are that they always associate climate change with people suffering in Africa and never pay too much attention to it. They honestly feel that they have more important things to focus on in their daily lives because climate change has not directly hurt them. This is the number one issue the globe is facing when it comes to this increasing problem of climate change: people not being well-informed or as concerned as they should be. As the video continues they also interview people living in Africa who are witnessing and feeling the damages climate change is leaving on the planet.

            The people in Africa are finally speaking out about how outraged they are that the actions of the rich countries are harming the land of the poor, and that not much is being done to stop such activities. Many people in Africa finally understand that the droughts they are currently experiencing are being caused by the CO2emissions from motor vehicles and large factories in the United States and other major countries. They are asking, almost begging that people find green forms of energy to use that will not only benefit the people of Africa, but benefit the entire globe.

            Finally, people in Ireland point out the fact that obtaining or using green energy is not done as easily as it is talked about. The cost is so great that many of the locals have no way of changing the form of energy that they currently use. If solar power and wind power were as cheap as other forms of energy it would obviously be used as much as possible. Also, many people are against wind energy because they are uneducated about the actual effects the wind-turbines leave. Ireland is no-where near as large as the United States, yet their emissions are insane and quite damaging. This documentary was very eye-opening and really helped put the damage that we do to the Earth into perspective.