book review on climate change

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Book review: A climate change novel ties together personal and environmental loss — and suggests resilience

“Ice to Water”

By M Jackson; Torrey House Press, 2024; 296 pages; $18.95.

M Jackson, a geographer and glaciologist who lives in Oregon, has written two previous nonfiction books, including “ The Secret Lives of Glaciers .” She’s now applied to fiction her extensive knowledge of glaciers and her commitment to addressing the dangers of climate change.

“Ice to Water” features a woman who lives next to a glacier in the fictional town of Burnt Bay, Alaska, a short ferry ride from Juneau. Ruth is originally from Iceland and has been living on a farm that has been in her husband’s family ownership for generations. Recently widowed, she’s learned that her husband had put them into tremendous debt and that the bank is planning to foreclose on the property. The property line includes the entire glacier, which provides the town’s fresh water.

One might think that hundreds of acres of farmland and a town’s water supply would have plenty of value, but Ruth believes she’ll be evicted and lose everything. In addition, there are questions about her husband’s recent death, and she fears she’s likely to go to jail for his murder.

When a mysterious stranger appears, Ruth hikes with him to the glacier, where they discover an ice cave. Ruth posts pictures of the cave on social media, giving its location, and tourists immediately show up to see it. Very quickly, she’s in the tourism business, giving tours twice a day and bringing economic prosperity to the one-rental-car town. Meanwhile, fall slides into winter, there’s no snow, and wildfires are burning closer and filling the air with smoke and ash.

Jackson is at her best describing glacial features. Here’s the ice cave as Ruth experiences it: “The ice above was turquoise, scalloping in repeating one-foot by one-foot sections. The ice at eye level farther back in the cave was darker, almost a black blue, and when she looked at her hands it was as if her pale white Icelandic skin had taken on blue dye. It was murky, dreamlike, blue.”

Ruth very soon comes to understand that she needs to learn about glaciers and glacier safety and teams up with a Juneau glaciologist to both learn and help with scientific studies. They travel on the glacier, where Ruth falls into a crevasse and is rescued. Here, Jackson expands on glacial features and dynamics: “It was the movement of melting surface water that created huge cavities inside the ice. Ruth understood now how moving water on the surface gathered in rivulets and carved paths and pools and tunnels of blue-blue water.”

Aside from her fall into a crevasse, Ruth lives in survival mode in multiple ways. Between the stress of trying to save her land and being investigated for her husband’s death, she has taken to drinking in a major way. She is drinking and/or drunk on just about every page of the novel.

Who is the mysterious man? He comes and goes, offering love, support, and encouragement to Ruth, who’s both needy and disagreeable in her relationship with him and with all the townspeople. The lesbian couple who live nearby, the visiting glaciologist, and Ruth’s cute dog are remarkably forgiving of her transgressions and self-inflicted injuries.

As a character, Ruth is largely inscrutable. Primary characteristics are her tendencies to constantly inventory things and to witness the actions of inanimate objects. When she stabs a pillow and releases its feathers (out of her rage at certain memories) she observes, “There were six general types of feathers: contour, flight, down, filoplume, semiplume, and bristle. The feather in her hand was down.” Elsewhere, stacks of books in her home laugh at her, “their spines curved up in mocking grins.” A dark rain cloud enters a building, where “Ruth watched the cloud close its eyes, sigh, then release all its rain down onto them.” It’s unclear whether Ruth is neurodivergent, is suffering from a mental breakdown and psychosis, is black-out drunk — or whether magical things actually happen around her.

As the novel progresses it seems that Ruth’s reluctance to deal with her circumstances is a metaphor for humanity’s reluctance to address the clear dangers of climate change. “The ice could only come back, could only surmount loss, if no one looked away ... What would happen if she looked hard at herself for once, if she opened a door of memories and finally faced it? If she stopped pushing everything away? Avoiding? Denying?”

It doesn’t give away too much to say that Ruth eventually realizes the need to love herself — and that the same goes for loving the world. One protects what one loves, whether that’s one’s own sanity, one’s friends, the beauty and life-giving water of glaciers, or a livable world.

As the glaciologist says, “Loss is not a permanent state, Ruth. Loss is not a destination, not a place. Loss is just a phase change. That’s all. Ice to water.”

[ Book review: Inspired by his wife, latest John Straley novel features a fierce woman biologist ]

[ Book review: Author Michael Engelhard follows the beating heart of Alaska in new collection of essays ]

Nancy Lord is a Homer-based writer and former Alaska writer laureate. Her books include "Fishcamp," "Beluga Days," and "Early Warming." Her latest book is "pH: A Novel."

5 Books About Climate Change to Read Now

By Joumana Khatib April 21, 2021

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Last month was the hottest June on record in North America, and other parts of the world haven’t fared much better, a recent analysis found.

If you’re inspired to pick up a book about climate change, here are five good options →

Elizabeth Kolbert has long been an essential voice in environmental reporting. “Under a White Sky” explores an existential question: Humans got the planet into this mess, but can we do enough to get us out?

Read our review.

In “Second Nature,” Nathaniel Rich takes a look at how biotech has created an increasingly dystopian world (think glowing rabbits) and the people trying to change it.

Want some concrete advice? “How to Prepare for Climate Change” by David Pogue is a worst-case survival guide, offering tips for everything from investing to managing anxiety about an ecological disaster.

But climate change isn’t just the domain of nonfiction, of course. If you’d like a novel, try “Parable of the Sower,” Octavia Butler’s canonical 1993 story about a teenager in ecologically ravaged California.

Or try Richard Powers’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, “The Overstory,” which puts trees front and center. Linked stories reach back to 1800s New York through contemporary times, and humans are just the underbrush.

Check out more books about climate change.

Or read more book news:

Explore More in Books

Want to know about the best books to read and the latest news start here..

10 Best Books of 2024:  The staff of The New York Times Book Review has chosen the year’s top fiction and nonfiction . For even more great reads, take a spin through all 100 Notable Books of 2024 .

Falling in Love With a Poem:  “Romantic Poet,” by Diane Seuss, is one of the best things that our critic A.O. Scott read (and reread) this year .

A Book Tour With a Side of Fried Rice:  Curtis Chin’s memoir, “Everything I Learned, I Learned in a Chinese Restaurant,” celebrates the cuisine and community of his youth . Now he’s paying it forward.

Cormac McCarthy’s Secret:  Revelations about a relationship between the author and a girl who was 16 when they met shocked readers, but not scholars of his work. Now there’s a debate about how much she influenced his writing .

The Book Review Podcast:  Each week, top authors and critics talk about the latest news in the literary world. Listen here .

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Nonfiction Books » Environmental Books » Climate Change Books

Browse book recommendations:

Environmental Books

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Last updated: November 22, 2024

We have a number of expert interviews on climate change, recommending books on different angles of the problem. Most focus on nonfiction books, but we also have a number of interviews dedicated to the growing genre of climate change fiction .

On energy, we have Chris Goodall, author and renewable technology expert, choosing his best books on energy transitions and Jerry McNerney, US congressman and energy expert, choosing his best books on clean energy and Juliet Davenport, CEO of Good Energy, the UK’s only 100% renewable electricity supplier her best on renewable energy . Journalist and Author Bob Johnstone talks about solar power .

Mary Robinson, former president of Ireland and founder of the Foundation for Climate Justice, chooses her best books on climate justice.   Guardian journalist and eco-campaigner George Monbiot provides his essential reading list .

We have a number of eminent scientists discussing climate change. Kate Marvel, of Columbia University and the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Science, talks about climate change and uncertainty . Naomi Oreskes, professor of the history of science at Harvard, chooses her best books on the politics of climate change . Roger Pielke Jr, professor of environmental studies at the university of Colorado, chooses his best books on climate change innovation. John Shepherd, a professorial research fellow in earth system science at the University of Southampton, chooses his best books on science and climate change .

The best books on Economics and the Environment , recommended by Dieter Helm

Predicting our climate future: what we know, what we don't know, and what we can't know by david stainforth, the coming wave: technology, power, and the twenty-first century's greatest dilemma by michael bhaskar & mustafa suleyman, milton friedman: the last conservative by jennifer burns, capitalism and crises: how to fix them by colin mayer, stuck monkey: the deadly planetary cost of the things we love by james hamilton-paterson.

If you want to take an economy that's wholly dependent on fossil fuels and turn it into a low-carbon one it's going to be expensive, says economist Dieter Helm —and the sooner we face up to that reality the better. He recommends books to help us think through the relationship between economics and the environment, including one that really shines a spotlight on our own, individual behaviour.

If you want to take an economy that’s wholly dependent on fossil fuels and turn it into a low-carbon one it’s going to be expensive, says economist Dieter Helm—and the sooner we face up to that reality the better. He recommends books to help us think through the relationship between economics and the environment, including one that really shines a spotlight on our own, individual behaviour.

The best books on Batteries , recommended by Lukasz Bednarski

Volt rush: the winners and losers in the race to go green by henry sanderson, the powerhouse: inside the invention of a battery to save the world by steve levine, the new map: energy, climate, and the clash of nations by daniel yergin, charged: a history of batteries and lessons for a clean energy future by james morton turner, cobalt red: how the blood of the congo powers our lives by siddharth kara.

As the world turns to electric vehicles and renewable energy to help stave off a climate crisis, there will be huge changes for individuals, industries and even the world geopolitical order. Lukasz Bednarski , a battery analyst, former rare metals trader, and author of Lithium, The Global Race for Battery Dominance, talks us through some of the books that shed light on what's going on, from the cobalt mines in the Democratic Republic of Congo to the high-tech labs where the latest battery technology is being developed.

As the world turns to electric vehicles and renewable energy to help stave off a climate crisis, there will be huge changes for individuals, industries and even the world geopolitical order. Lukasz Bednarski, a battery analyst, former rare metals trader, and author of Lithium, The Global Race for Battery Dominance, talks us through some of the books that shed light on what’s going on, from the cobalt mines in the Democratic Republic of Congo to the high-tech labs where the latest battery technology is being developed.

The best books on Climate Adaptation , recommended by Ben Rawlence

The nutmeg's curse: parables for a planet in crisis by amitav ghosh, reconsidering reparations by olúfẹ́mi o. táíwò, less is more: how degrowth will save the world by jason hickel, ideas to postpone the end of the world by ailton krenak, translated by anthony doyle, a small farm future by chris smaje.

The future is uncertain; perhaps the only thing we do know is that, in terms of the environment and the climate, there is no going back. Ben Rawlence , the author and activist, selects five of the best books on climate adaptation—nonfiction works that might guide our path through a world of rising temperatures, melting ice caps, and shifting forests.

The future is uncertain; perhaps the only thing we do know is that, in terms of the environment and the climate, there is no going back. Ben Rawlence, the author and activist, selects five of the best books on climate adaptation—nonfiction works that might guide our path through a world of rising temperatures, melting ice caps, and shifting forests.

The Best Climate Books of 2021 , recommended by Sarah Dry

Saving us: a climate scientist's case for hope and healing in a divided world by katharine hayhoe, under a white sky: the nature of the future by elizabeth kolbert, owls of the eastern ice by jonathan slaght, how to blow up a pipeline by andreas malm, electrify: an optimist's playbook for our clean energy future by saul griffith.

From the power of the individual to effect change to the large-scale government interventions needed, are we close to a tipping point in our efforts to combat climate change? Just in time to get up to speed for COP26, here's a selection of the best climate books of 2021, selected for us by historian of climate science, Sarah Dry .

From the power of the individual to effect change to the large-scale government interventions needed, are we close to a tipping point in our efforts to combat climate change? Just in time to get up to speed for COP26, here’s a selection of the best climate books of 2021, selected for us by historian of climate science, Sarah Dry.

The Best Climate Change Novels , recommended by James Bradley

Annihilation by jeff vandermeer, flight behaviour by barbara kingsolver, barkskins by annie proulx, aurora by kim stanley robinson, the swan book by alexis wright.

The best fiction allows us to hold ideas in our heads about time and space and causality and connection that are difficult to articulate in other ways, argues the Australian author James Bradley . It helps its readers engage with dangers and possibilities that are at the very edge of imagination

The best fiction allows us to hold ideas in our heads about time and space and causality and connection that are difficult to articulate in other ways, argues the Australian author James Bradley. It helps its readers engage with dangers and possibilities that are at the very edge of imagination

The best books on Climate Change and Uncertainty , recommended by Kate Marvel

Field notes from a catastrophe: man, nature and climate change by elizabeth kolbert, arctic dreams by barry lopez, fictions by jorge luis borges, strangers in their own land by arlie russell hochschild.

‘When we talk about climate change, we sometimes assume people will be swayed by one more graph, one more coherent argument. But that’s not how people work. More facts don’t change minds, and deeply held views don’t always dictate behaviour.’ How, then, to grapple with a future that ‘might be weirder than we realise’?  Kate Marvel , Associate Research Scientist at Columbia University and NASA, recommends an essential reading list for those ready to confront climate change and the uncertainties it brings

‘When we talk about climate change, we sometimes assume people will be swayed by one more graph, one more coherent argument. But that’s not how people work. More facts don’t change minds, and deeply held views don’t always dictate behaviour.’ How, then, to grapple with a future that ‘might be weirder than we realise’? Kate Marvel, Associate Research Scientist at Columbia University and NASA, recommends an essential reading list for those ready to confront climate change and the uncertainties it brings

The best books on Global Challenges , recommended by Rowan Hooper

The sixth extinction by elizabeth kolbert, frankissstein: a novel by jeanette winterson, the ministry for the future: a novel by kim stanley robinson, drawdown: the most comprehensive plan ever proposed to reverse global warming by paul hawken (editor).

Which are the most pressing global challenges we face today? In How to Spend a Trillion Dollars Rowan Hooper , a senior editor at the New Scientist, makes the case for the ones he considers the most urgent. Here, he recommends books that help illuminate some of those challenges—including the amazing resource that is 'Project Drawdown'.

Which are the most pressing global challenges we face today? In How to Spend a Trillion Dollars Rowan Hooper, a senior editor at the New Scientist, makes the case for the ones he considers the most urgent. Here, he recommends books that help illuminate some of those challenges—including the amazing resource that is ‘Project Drawdown’.

The best books on The Politics of Climate Change , recommended by Naomi Oreskes

The great derangement: climate change and the unthinkable by amitav ghosh, learning to die in the anthropocene: reflections on the end of a civilization by roy scranton, love in the anthropocene by bonnie nadzam & dale jamieson, the great persuasion: reinventing free markets since the depression by angus burgin, the madhouse effect: how climate change denial is threatening our planet, destroying our politics, and driving us crazy by michael e mann & tom toles.

‘We’re on a path that is going to lead to tremendous destruction and yet most of us are going about our lives as if nothing particularly special is happening.’ The science of climate change is incontrovertible but deniers persist and political and economic solutions continue to be – systematically – frustrated. Time is running out, says Naomi Oreskes

The Best Cli-Fi Books , recommended by Dan Bloom

Anchor point by alice robinson, we are unprepared by meg little reilly, polar city red by jim laughter, please don't paint our planet pink by gregg kleiner and laurel thompson.

Fiction that explores issues of climate change is growing at an unprecedented rate today, says the journalist who coined the phrase 'cli-fi', Dan Bloom . Here, he picks the five best books of the field, and introduces us to a globally important, underexplored literary genre

Fiction that explores issues of climate change is growing at an unprecedented rate today, says the journalist who coined the phrase ‘cli-fi’, Dan Bloom. Here, he picks the five best books of the field, and introduces us to a globally important, underexplored literary genre

The best books on Climate Change , recommended by Duncan Clark

The rough guide to climate change by robert henson, ten technologies to save the planet by chris goodall, how bad are bananas the carbon footprint of everything by mike berners-lee, kyoto2 by oliver tickell, fixing climate by robert kunzig & wallace s broecker.

The environment writer suggests the best reading on carbon costs, climate science and technological solutions to save the planet

We ask experts to recommend the five best books in their subject and explain their selection in an interview.

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