In a future rocked by climate disaster and social division, a member of one of Earth’s ruling oligarchs leaves his enclave to see the blighted world outside.

Seidel’s SF novel is a chronological successor to his earlier 2045 (2009), though the ties are mainly thematic. By 2145, billions of deaths have resulted from greenhouses gases and unregulated industry. Tectonic upheavals linked to continents unburdened by long-melted glaciers have caused a landmass called Tang to rise in the sea. Because Tang didn’t fall under any one nation’s jurisdiction, it was commandeered by 100 elite families who now dwell there in luxury, running the world’s politics and economy remotely while the rest of humanity suffers under the stewardship of lackeys and corrupt politicians. Sheltered young Tangian Ron Neuwirth, gifted with “nascent common sense” despite his privilege, wants to see North America. Ron’s immense wealth helps him cross the Balkanized boundaries of the former United States and to enter arid semi-lawless areas. During his odyssey, he discovers romance (with a contaminated vaccine victim), dire shortages, and income inequality. Recycled goods, meat substitutes, and bans on cars are common, but they’re only last-ditch retrenchments against 120-degree heat, toxic rivers, fuel exhaustion, pandemics, and social unraveling. Where capitalism remains, there is infrastructure and function. (Chicago, headquarters of the prosperous National Rifle Association, prides itself on its mass murders.) But whole swaths of “Lowmerica” are dangerous, prowled by the new alpha predator: pythons. The dystopian narrative doomscrolls through a grim future; some of the details are insightful and intriguing (like the ubiquity of spelt, a grain that can grow in harsh environments), whereas most are depressing. The material can feel like a moral parable crossed with an Al Gore PowerPoint presentation, but Seidel keeps the story streamlined and compact and leavens the bitterness with a possibility of hope in the end. One chapter, told entirely from the perspective of a hungry python, particularly stands out for its strikingly divergent tone and style. Fittingly, the book is issued via a sustainability nonprofit.

Cautionary global warming SF that eschews shrillness for efficient storytelling.

A longtime environmentalist looks at the state of the world and our prospects for surviving the future.

In this book on the environment and humans’ role in shaping the world, Seidel (2045: A Story of Our Future, 2009) criticizes many aspects of modern life, from population growth to the spread of misinformation. He also offers a list of methods for combating the negative outcomes he sees as likely to result from current practices. A lengthy appendix, written by Gary Gardner of the Worldwatch Institute, supplies data and analysis to substantiate the points Seidel discusses in more general terms. It’s often a bleak picture of humanity in which the tendency toward irrational and misguided behavior on both individual and group levels seems to be unstoppable: “We are clearly on a path headed for catastrophe, and although there is abundant information about what’s wrong and what we can do about it, we are failing to respond in a rational, responsible way.” Seidel looks not only at damage to the physical environment, but at violent tendencies throughout history, the fates of past civilizations, and the psychological distance that can limit the impact of widespread but impersonal suffering. Although Seidel predicts a gloomy future if current practices continue, he has many suggestions for bringing about positive change, from the psychological (understanding thought processes in order to change them) to the practical (improving science education) to the radical (“Associations of economists, environmentalists, scientists, geographers, and historians could develop and give tests” requiring candidates for public office to prove their knowledge). While frustration occasionally gives way to hyperbole—“Global warming and other environmental problems were not even discussed in the 2012 U.S. presidential campaign”—the book’s statements are usually based on evidence documented in a substantial list of citations. Seidel’s blend of pessimism and idealism brings intellectual heft to this unconventional approach so that we might “move beyond our current stalemate and make real progress towards sustainability.”

An astute look at the many negative influences currently shaping our world, along with ideas to overcome them.