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.