Cli-Fi — Answer to a Climatic Conundrum?

A new genre has started to nudge for space in the world of literature — cli-fi.

Cli- fi are stories around climate changes and global warming wrought by mankind. The term even has a birthdate to it. It was used for the first time on the American National Public Radio during a talk show on April 20th, 2013.

Despite being a new genre, two novels by nineteenth century writer Jules Verne have been classified as Cli-fi; Paris in the Twentieth Century written in 1883 and set in 1960s and The Purchase of North Pole published in 1889. Both the novels deal with climate change due to man’s intervention. A few dystopic novels by twentieth century British writer JG Ballard (well- known also for his book, Empire of the Sun, adapted by Speiberg for a film of the same name) were also dubbed as cli- fi fiction. The genre is being enlarged by inclusion of books by current day writers such as Michael Chrichton and Margaret Atwood.