Lucas Spelsberg (011/27): Climate Fiction

A new genre of literature has been emerging over the past decade known as Climate Fiction. Along with the formation of this genre, a debate on whether or not Cli-Fi is an appropriate way to inspire action among young adults has followed. One argument is that traditional ways of teaching students about climate change weren't very effective but with creative writing as a new pathway to science, it would become more accessible to students who are not typically interested. Other arguments claim that climate deniers will see fictional stories as proof that climate change is a farce, only being exaggerated for effect.

I believe that teaching Climate Fiction in low-level schools may give young students an inaccurate or apocalyptic vision of their future and therefore make them feel hopeless as opposed to hopeful and encouraged to make changes. I believe that if we had started earlier to learn to love the land which provides us with so much this would not be an issue today. Much like the Native American cultures, certain values can have a massive impact on the way that we interact with nature. I think that we are slowly changing the collective perspective of how to interact with nature in the United States, although it would be impossible to realistically live in a time when everyone was conscious of their impacts on the land.