Climate Change In Margaret Atwood's Oryx And Crake

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Margaret Atwood's novel, Oryx and Crake is a fictional novel which portrays a world where over consuming and environmental negligence has led to the destruction of ecosystems and the species which live within. It is believed that her novels are often written in response to what she observes in our current world, and although Oryx and Crake depict a post apocalyptic world after the full effects of climate change are felt it is not completely unlikely that our world could transform into a similar state. Climate change by definition is “a change in global or regional climate patterns, in particular a change apparent from the mid to late 20th century onwards and attributed largely to the increased levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide produced …show more content…

She was visiting this region to observe global warming and the effects it was having on the immediate environment. The effects of climate change are being felt in every corner of the globe, especially in the Arctic. Currently, because of climate change, the permafrost is melting, glaciers disappearing and sea ice receding. Attwood even talks about the disappearance of the permafrost, “The northern permafrost melted and the vast tundra bubbled with methane.” This comparison to our world can not be ignored, the rapid disappearance or geographical change of this region is alarming, hence why attwood has used it to portray a dystopian style world. A combination of climate change, pollution and search for natural resources is threatening the fragile species and ecosystems within the Arctic region. Over the last two centuries the world's global mean temperature has increased by 0.6 degrees, noting this continuous change in global temperatures is too accelerated for the natural environment to adapt to. Much of this change in global temperatures is the result of c02 emissions being released into the atmosphere. Currently, 80% of the world's growing energy demands are met by the burning of fossil fuels which emit astonishing amounts of c02 into our atmosphere (3). As the name suggests, climate change references the change of the climate, unfortunately this is not limited to the fragile systems of