‘It is not only a future certainty – the disaster is already here’: why we need climate fiction

As wildfires rage across Europe and Britain swelters through its hottest summer on record, literary fiction has a vital role to play in capturing the severe consequences of climate crisis Earlier this summer, I travelled through Europe on a book tour.

Everywhere I went, the heat broke records.

In Italy, Germany and Spain, I sought refuge from the afternoon sun in air-conditioned hotels.

In normally temperate Zurich, it averaged 37 degrees.

I jumped into the Limmat for relief.

On my final day in Warsaw, Poland had never been hotter – one of 14 countries to hit a historic high.

In June, when I left to return to the US, Europe was scorching.

At the end of July, as I write this, it is burning.

Since the heatwaves began, there have been more than 10,000 excess deaths.

Yet for many, myself included, the high temperatures brought nothing more than inconvenience – uncomfortable commutes, heat rash, less time outdoors.

This seems to be a defining feature of today’s climate crisis; deadly for some, banal for others.

Even when the world is on fire, it somehow doesn’t feel like an emergency for everyone.

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