Climate Nonfiction: Under a White Sky

Summary: This book raises some fascinating questions and made for a great book club read.

This book about potential ways to use technology to counter climate change was a good book to read by myself and a great book to discuss with a group. Something that many of us in my book club observed is that this felt like a collection of essays or of long form journalism pieces. It wasn’t quite as cohesive as the author’s previous book, The Sixth Extinction. It was also shorter and didn’t dive into a single topic in as much depth. It was equally well written though. I learned a lot and I was fascinated by every topic the author covered. I particularly enjoyed hearing about the author’s experiences as she learned the info she shared with us in this book.

My favorite part of this book was the fascinating discussion questions it raised. It was interesting to see which species people are willing to put effort into saving, especially when it wasn’t clearly because of a species’ ecological role or its charisma. Another question this book raised for my book club was the question of what was natural – after all, our current baseline comes from a world already radically altered by human beings. What state should we try to return the world to? At some point, does an invasive species become a native with a right to thrive too? Then there was the question of what responsibilities we have and what the responsible thing is to do. The titular white sky comes from the (to me) terrifying technological solution of adding particles to the atmosphere to reflect sunlight back out into space. The idea of intervening in the world that radically on purpose scares me, but I also recognize that at some point it might be our best option for preserving life, thanks to equally drastic but less thoughtful interventions we’re already making.

This review has focused more on a detailed discussion of the content of this book than my average review. That’s because that really was what made this book for me. If the topics I’ve mentioned interest you, I think you’re likely to get a lot out of this book too. I highly recommend reading it with a book club or a buddy and feel free to come chat with me about it in the comments here or on twitter!

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