Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1488752
15 maltatoday | WEDNESDAY • 21 DECEMBER 2022 NEWS ships draws on the same science that underpins technologies for addressing climate change. Such stories pose many pertinent ques- tions that we should heed as we consider next steps on Earth – or beyond it. In its broadest sense, terraform- ing refers to transforming other planets or cosmic bodies so that life from Earth can live there. En- trepreneurs such as Elon Musk, CEO of SpaceX, have brought ter- raforming and the colonisation of Mars to our imagination through an ambitious project to put people on the planet within the decade. Musk is not alone: other entre- preneurs such as Richard Branson (Virgin Galactic) and Jeff Bezos (Blue Origins) are also competing to exploit space and get human- kind out there. Contemporary visions of terra- forming Mars must contend with recent assessments that show it is not possible to terraform the plan- et with present day technology, given the lack of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases that would enable an atmosphere to be created on Mars. But scientific research into terraforming con- tinues to carve out a space for its future possibility. Although it is the subject of cur- rent scientific research, the word "terraforming" was in fact coined by science fiction writer Jack Wil- liamson (writing as Will Stewart) in the 1942 short story, Collision Orbit, set on a terraformed as- teroid. The story describes terra- forming technologies that include a "paragravity installation" sunk into the heart of the asteroid, which provides some gravity. Ox- ygen and water, meanwhile, are generated from mineral oxides, a process that releases "absorptive gases to trap the feeble heat of the far-off Sun". In the story, the greenhouse ef- fect is harnessed to make other cosmic bodies habitable. What makes terraforming possible here are new ways of manipulating atomic matter. But Williamson is also concerned with the unin- tended consequences of new in- ventions and new ways of gener- ating energy. New energy systems make terraforming feasible for small groups and large institu- tions alike, promising a re-config- uration of power throughout the solar system by the story's end. Lessons from fiction for the future I've focused here on the ideas of geoengineering and terraforming because they represent the most outlandish theories or proposals when it comes to potential "solu- tions" to the climate crisis. But of course, everything I've written applies just as much to thinking about less grandiose proposals. The questions and speculations offered by science fiction are end- less, and it would be a fool's er- rand to attempt to outline those that are the most pertinent, or im- portant, or relevant to COP26. So instead I'd like highlighting those books that have stayed with me the most in my time working in this area, and explain why I think they might prove fruitful food for thought for anyone attend- ing, debating, or simply following COP26. 1. Ursula K. Le Guin's The Word for World is Forest (1972). This short novel by science fic- tion heavyweight Ursula K. Le Guin describes a forest world, populated by an indigenous so- ciety, that early on in the novel is occupied and aggressively defor- ested to provide Earth with wood. This is not simply a technical project. It is also social because it involves the complete transfor- mation of the indigenous society, who are violently gang-pressed to provide a freely exploitable la- bour force. It is also social insofar as this supply chain is oriented to the demands and desires of those on Earth. We might see echoes of this sto- ry in James Cameron's film Avatar (2009); only, in Avatar the target for extraction is "unobtainium". In Herbert's iconic novel Dune, it's a substance called "geriatric spice mélange". It's not important what these resources are, but that they are scarce and valuable in the stories' worlds. Portrayals of extensive afforesta- tion and deforestation are a form of terraforming or geoengineering because they transform the plan- et's ability to regulate its climate. This isn't addressed directly in Le Guin's novel; but Le Guin does ex- plore the issue of terraforming in her 1974 novel The Dispossessed, which focuses on the political and economic relationship between an anarchist state on a moon called Anarres and its historical home planet, Urras. This novel explores what life might look like on a Moon that has long been un- dergoing terraformation. What these examples tell us is that, in some contexts, afforesta- tion or deforestation that trans- forms societies and their envi- ronments function as a form of terraforming or geoengineering. We must recognise prior claims to the land and work with commu- nities to develop an ethics of care for these environments that resist aggressive exploitation. 2. Kim Stanley Robinson's Mars Trilogy (1992-1996) Perhaps the author who has most consistently explored con- temporary debates about climate change is Kim Stanley Robinson. Named the 2008 TIME "Hero of the Environment", Robinson addresses climate change pol- itics in works set on Earth and the solar system. I've written ex- tensively about Robinson's work, which speculates on a portfolio of sciences and technologies to supplement the creation of new ways of living centred on social and ecological justice. Most im- portantly, Robinson ties these technologies to the communities being portrayed, and traces the struggles and injustices that such developments risk. Robinson imagines the terra- formation of Mars in his trilogy Red Mars (1992), Green Mars (1993) and Blue Mars (1996). A host of technologies appear, in- cluding orbital mirrors, referred to as solettas, technologies for en- gineering soil and biologically en- gineered lichens to transform the atmosphere, among many others. Perhaps the most impressive as- pect of the Mars trilogy is the con- sistent reflection on the vision for transformation: for whom is the planet being transformed? Corpo- rate interests on Earth, or the en- tirety of the Martian population? And what relationship does the transformation of Mars bear for the peoples on Earth? As one of the key members of the terraforming project on Mars, the scientist Sax Russell's techno- cratic, top-down approach to the terraformation of Mars under- goes a sea change after a traumat- ic brain injury during a Martian revolution. This injury prompts him to reflect on language and communication and leads him to understand that the technical ap- proach that he had thus far adopt- ed — an approach that erases the perspectives and experiences of his fellow Martians — is insuffi- cient for building a truly open so- ciety. In his own imperfect way, he begins to move toward an under- standing of science as a firmly so- ciotechnical system, and to realise that the human element cannot be ignored. The fictional adventures of Rus- sell might as well inform our own response to climate change. By hearing only the voices of special- ists and politicians, other avenues for addressing climate change might be overlooked. Worse, we may inadvertently lock ourselves into a technological system that cannot hope to address the effects of climate change, or which may exacerbate the precariousness of many peoples across the globe. Science fiction offers ways to discuss speculative technologies without presenting them as ready made technological fixes, enabling wider public deliberation about our approach to climate change. Fiction asks crucial questions, re- vises and reconsiders aspects of science and society in relation to their contemporary moment. But it also transmits a way of think- ing – it identifies our assumptions about the worlds we want to live in and challenges dominant narra- tives about climate change. Most importantly, it offers a range of possible technological solutions, which could and should inform our response to the climate crisis. 3. Ian McDonald's Luna Trilogy (2015-2019) McDonald considers the ex- ploitation of resources and peo- ple, along with the extension of financial speculation to all aspects of life on the colonised Moon in his trilogy Luna: New Moon (2015), Luna: Wolf Moon (2017) and Luna: Moon Rising (2019). In this story of power and the ex- ploitation of the Moon's resourc- es, families who control key in- dustries on the Moon struggle for dominance against the backdrop of an Earth that is adapting to climate change. The trilogy ima- gines and interrogates the exten- sion of the logic of development outward to the solar system and encourages readers to think about the inevitable economic and polit- ical clashes this will bring. Science fiction can help us think about our own stories of climate mitigation and adaptation. Such stories are experiments in envi- sioning future possibilities and creating solutions to future prob- lems. Central to many of these vi- sions is an emphasis on social and ecological justice, and an aware- ness of the dangers of erasing pop- ulations from the story. It is true that attempts to imagine the future are the product of uto- pian thinking – but don't imagine for a moment that utopian in this sense equates to a naive idealism. Rather, utopian thinking is a com- mitment to working through the difficulties and impasses of our contemporary moment without losing sight of the possible futures that we imagine and would like to create. What makes science fiction val- uable in our efforts against climate change is that it does not offer us a final word, but rather invites an open ended exploration and ex- perimentation with stories and ideas. Science fiction encourages us to build worlds and to question the worlds that we are building. It asks us to choose a future from a range of possibilities and to put in the work to create it. Science fiction was crucial in helping me make sense of the radical trans- formations of 20th century Hong Kong and the UK, and it led to my engagement with the politics of climate change. This is precisely the work of public deliberation and engagement that is crucial as we move toward and beyond COP26. Chris Pak is Lecturer in English Literature, Swansea University