Wednesday, February 24, 2016

Arctic Rising

Arctic Rising by Tobias Buckell is the story of an Earth where the arctic ice sheet has melted and the Northeast passage has opened - permanently. Massive oil companies are vying for the last few drops of oil left on Earth in the arctic waters, and people have colonized Thule, the name for the remaining mass of ice still remaining in the arctic. Smugglers routinely travel the passage and intentionally sink their ships full of radioactive waste made at the many nuclear power reactors that have been constructed across the world. Anika Duncan is in charge of an air ship that patrols the passage for these dirty boats to ensure that no more toxic waste can be dumped into the ocean (there are already exponentially high rates of cancer near bodies of water due to dumping). In the first quarter of the book, Anika and her copilot, Tom, are shot down by a smuggling crew and left to die in the icy waters they are eventually saved, but Tom later dies due to exposure. The smuggling crew is tracked down by the United States Navy (which is jockeying for dominance in the northern waters with none other than Canada) and taken into custody. Apart from being shot down, this all seems to be rather routine which is indicative of the new conditions that define this Earth.

This book presents and interesting take on the issue of climate change. Earth is certainly a different place, but it isn't necessarily uninhabitable or hellish. Turmoil is everywhere, no doubt, but, then again, that's true of Earth today. So far, this book has been quite enjoyable to read. It has dialogue that is honestly cheesy as hell, but the story has kept me interested.

Arctic Rising is a book about a climate changed Earth, but it doesn't go deeply into detail about the effects of climate change that have destroyed the planet. Instead, this book looks at the geopolitical and economic struggles that this new Earth has been enduring as a result of global warming. Thule, the lone remaining ice sheet that is being artificially held together by human intervention, is a colony of people from all over the world. It is experiencing many of the same issues that the original 13 colonies of the United States faced. Many many countries see this land as valuable due to the resources that remain there as well as the strategic benefits that come with dominating the top of the globe. The United States seems to have taken a back seat to Canada as a world superpower due to Canada's newfound economic activity in its once stagnant north. Many ports have been opened or expanded to accommodate for shipping traffic, making Canada the economic hub of the world.


11 comments:

  1. This sounds like an interesting book. I think it's interesting how it deals with the more political and economic changes that could take place due to climate change. Does it explain why smugglers are dumping radioactive waste into the ocean? What is their motive?

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  2. Your description on this book makes me really fascinated with it, and sounds like something that I would really like to read. I must say that with the conditions of this version of earth, it would seem like there are a lot more problems that would arise from a climate aspect, than what you describe.

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  3. This sounds like an action packed adventure. It is interesting that it does not deal with the the effects of climate change, but rather how the human population is dealing with these changes.

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  4. They way you described the action in this book makes me really want to read it. I don;t think this book is too far from the truth of our future as I can certainly see a lot of turmoil in the world if groups of people are going to have to relocate. This will cause wars and many other conflicts between groups and countries.

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  5. From how you describe it, it seems that the book may just portray a changed Earth and not extreme anarchy. The mass of ice, Thule, is a little confusing to me. Is it a mass of ice that already exists, or is it purely fictional?

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  6. I amazes me how selfish people can be, even in the future world of your book. I know that I've said it many times but I really do feel like the main contributor to climate change is the selfishness of people. They want to do what they want to do and don't really care about how it affects others, as long as it doesn't affect them. Like you mention, climate change isn't just an environmental problem, its also an economic, political, and psychological problem as well.

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  7. This book sounds very interesting mostly because it appears to take a different approach towards climate change than many other books. There are so many components that make up climate change which many people don't even realize. From what you say in this post, it sounds like this book does a pretty decent job of covering many of the factors that play into climate change. Awesome post!

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  8. This books appears to be a book about the world after the glaciers melt, something that we might experience at some point. The oil drilling does not surprise me and the dumping of waste is something else that doesn't surprise me.

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  9. When I was studying the melting of the Arctic sea ice I did a lot of extra research on the possibility of oil companies drilling for oil after the disappearance of the ice. Interestingly drilling for oil in this area will be near impossible without some new type of technology. The risk associated with this drilling will be way too high. Storms in the Arctic will be extremely intense. I recommend maybe reading up on the possibility of the future in your book.

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  10. Interesting comment, Brandon. Canada does seem to be positioned to take some advantage of climate change, though I understand that subarctic soils are actually quiet poor.

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