Global warming has fascinated Boulder Creek author Jacob Sackin since he studied it in graduate school in during the early 2000s. His response is to write about possible worst-case scenarios.
Several years ago, Sackin published “Islands,” an environmental-fiction novel that describes the futuristic fallout of global warming in the desert-like southwestern United States from the perspective of two children.
In “Iglu” — his second novel, published last month — Sackin follows April, an Alaskan teenager, through troubled Alaskan towns in the aftermath of a 150-foot-rise in the level of the ocean related to the melting of polar ice caps.
As background for the book, Sackin created a topographical map of Alaska with 150 feet of elevation along the coasts covered by water.
“I realized that all of the land the Inupiaq people own goes underwater,” he said, describing how he came up with the premise. “What are these people going to do? They can’t be happy that they are losing their land.”
The conflict arises when Alaska, and specifically the land promised to the Inupiaq, becomes the place where the United States must send the many refugees from the continental U.S. who have lost their homes because of global warming.
The country hires a private corporation and soldiers to complete the move, which results in poor treatment of and uprisings among the natives.
“I try to focus on a child character in this world, because I feel like children are almost always innocent in this type of conflict,” Sackin said.
Sackin visited Barrow, Alaska, before completing the book and talked with a native teenager to get a sense of the people and how they live.
“You don’t feel the presence of the U.S. there,” he said. The only way to reach Barrow is by plane.
The novel is political and delves into issues of terrorism, global warming and privatizing the military, but Sackin said he did not begin with an agenda in mind; rather, the themes grew as he fleshed out the novel.
He hopes people will learn about climate change through his books, but he sees a chance of a bright future if leaders get serious about environmental consequences.
“I don’t see that as a world we’re doing that much (to slow global warming),” Sackin said. “There’s a huge amount of potential for us to take the issue seriously.”
At a glance
Title: “Iglu,” a novel of global warming
Author: Jacob Sackin of Boulder Creek
Buy: $14.99 from Amazon.com
Info: www.jacobsackin.com
