Cli-fi, fiction about the climate crisis, is still hardly a household word—or even a known genre among booksellers—years after Dan Bloom coined the term in 2007. I still get blank stares most of the time when I introduce Weather Menders to a bookseller, or talk about the genre with people who are not deeply involved … Continue reading Solarpunk and Cli-fi, Oh My! The Case for Optimism
Cli-Fi Blog
Climate Action and Earth Healing: Choosing Joy and Love
Even as the climate and extinction news grows worse day by day, I remain convinced that Consciousness is the wild card that gives humanity a choice.
Weather Menders Author Debra Denker Video on Her Cli-fi Novel, Climate Change, and Climate Hope
My cat Samadhi Timewalker, Sammy for short, standing in for Georgie the time-traveling cat. He'd like you to read Weather Menders, and to watch this video of his human, author Debra Denker, reading chapters from Weather Menders. I also discuss climate change, positive and possible solutions moving in the right direction such as the Green … Continue reading Weather Menders Author Debra Denker Video on Her Cli-fi Novel, Climate Change, and Climate Hope
Santa Fe’s Very Woke Teens and Children: Youth Climate Strike
Yesterday I joined several hundred very woke teens and children in the first Santa Fe Youth Climate Strike. Supported by parents, adults, and elders, these young leaders amplified the passionate call for immediate climate action first voiced by Greta Thunberg, a 16-year-old Swedish high school student and now activist and Nobel Prize nominee. I can … Continue reading Santa Fe’s Very Woke Teens and Children: Youth Climate Strike
Message from the North
For a few days in early November, and again in early December, Santa Fe was colder than Anchorage, Alaska. As humans and the remaining straggling birds shivered, as the last of the marigolds in my garden froze solid, friends in Alaska resignedly told me that the snow that had cheered (most of) them up had melted.
Imagine a World Without Elephants—or Lions, or Tigers, or Polar Bears
“A world without elephants is like a world without oxygen.” —Turkana member of Kenya Wildlife Service, in the film Walking Thunder. I don’t want to live in a world without elephants, lions, tigers, rhinos, or polar bears. Or mosquitos, for that matter. It’s not just about the large mammals known in conservation circles as “charismatic … Continue reading Imagine a World Without Elephants—or Lions, or Tigers, or Polar Bears
Climate Cassandras: Seeing the Truth Unflinchingly
Like Cassandra, the Prophetess of ancient Troy, we who have been speaking, writing, and researching about climate change—many for decades—have been cursed to be always right and never believed.
Trapped by Climate Change
I am fortunate to live a life filled with many options. Physically escaping climate change, I am learning, is not one of them. On my bad days, I think it must be a curse. Heat and drought seem to follow me wherever I go. In 2013, I gently gloated, thinking that I would be getting … Continue reading Trapped by Climate Change
Review of Deena Metzger’s “A Rain of Night Birds”
This is the review I posted on Amazon and Goodreads: Deena Metzger’s achingly beautiful and poetic cli-fi novel unflinchingly evokes the planetary anguish of facing climate change and environmental devastation. I started reading it on an airplane and was immediately transfixed. The characters of climate scientists Sandra Birdswell and Terrence Green come from radically different backgrounds, … Continue reading Review of Deena Metzger’s “A Rain of Night Birds”
Reclaiming Cycles in a Time of Loss
Year by year, we are losing the seasons that have marked human culture, animal migrations, and the cycles of plant life for thousands of years. Spring comes to the Arctic 16 days earlier than a mere decade ago, according to a recent article in The Guardian. And it’s not just the Arctic, as any careful … Continue reading Reclaiming Cycles in a Time of Loss
Weather Menders 