Science fiction is one of the most popular genres when it comes to books and movies. People like the escape and entertainment that it offers, but what they may not realize is that what they are watching does at times come true. One sci-fi author poses the question of whether or not the genre can lead people to make changes when it comes to caring for the environment.
“Sci-fi plays an important role beyond just entertainment because it gives people a visual of how things may be if we don't make changes,” explains Stephon Stewart, director and author. “It’s otherwise hard for people to envision what will happen. Sci-fi can be an awakening in that regard.”
Science fiction has been around for decades. There have been numerous scenarios depicted in the stories that have come true. Such things as space travel, robots, earbuds, self-driving cars, video calls, flip phones, and biometrics all first made their appearance in science fiction books and movies. Today, these concepts are a part of our everyday society.
According to the dictionary, science fiction is fiction-based or imagined future events or environmental changes. The encyclopedia describes it as fiction that deals with the impact of actual or imagined science upon society.
In Stewart’s book “Dry” (Markosia Enterprises, October 2021), the sci-fi fantasy graphic novel has a mission of showing readers what the planet will be like if we don't change our environmental habits now. Such changes are necessary to address global warming because it's predicted by scientists that it will lead to heat waves, hurricanes, weather extremes, shrinking of the ice caps, rising sea levels, warming of the ocean, and ocean acidification.
“These problems are dire and will lead to food insecurity, a major loss of the planet’s biodiversity, and more war as people feud over resources,” added Stewart. “Sci-fi is showing us that we are in big trouble if we don’t make changes now. I hope that people will heed the warnings and act accordingly.”
Stewart’s book, which was written for ages 13 and up, helps put things into perspective. The story focuses on the journey a farmer and his daughter who take to find water to survive because the earth has dried up due to global warming. Readers will learn about the impact that each of us has on helping to address the problem, which scientists say is human-caused.
Throughout the story, we are constantly reminded to not take Earth for granted as we see troubling visuals of our planet without oceans and agriculture. We see the future of the alarming consequences of climate change and what would happen if we continued to allow Earth’s atmosphere to remain in a vulnerable state. Stewart wrote the book for teens so they may be inspired to grow up to be scientists or inventors and create solutions for future generations. See how the story ends and read the 186-page adventure story for yourself. “Dry” is out everywhere now and available worldwide at Barnes and Noble, Amazon, and markosia.com/dry/.
