''New York 2140'' is a 2017

climate fiction Climate fiction (sometimes shortened as cli-fi) is literature that deals with climate change.Glass, Rodge (31 May 2013).Global Warning: The Rise of 'Cli-fi' retrieved 3 March 2016 Generally speculative in nature but scientifically-grounded, wor ...

novel by American science fiction author

Kim Stanley Robinson Kim Stanley Robinson (born March 23, 1952) is an American writer of science fiction. He has published twenty-two novels and numerous short stories and is best known for his ''Mars'' trilogy. His work has been translated into 24 languages. Many ...

. The novel is set in a

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

that has been flooded and altered by rising water. The novel received generally positive reviews.

Setting

The novel occurs mostly in a fictional

future The future is the time after the past and present. Its arrival is considered inevitable due to the existence of time and the laws of physics. Due to the apparent nature of reality and the unavoidability of the future, everything that currently ...

, permanently inundated by two major rises in

seawater Seawater, or salt water, is water from a sea or ocean. On average, seawater in the world's oceans has a salinity of about 3.5% (35 g/L, 35 ppt, 600 mM). This means that every kilogram (roughly one liter by volume) of seawater has appro ...

levels caused by

climate change In common usage, climate change describes global warming—the ongoing increase in global average temperature—and its effects on Earth's climate system. Climate change in a broader sense also includes previous long-term changes to E ...

. Most of New York City is permanently underwater, however, people still live in the upper floors of the buildings, much like in the

Venice Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 ...

of today. Robinson has said that the novel does not take place in the same "future history" as his novel '' 2312''. Most of Manhattan below 46th Street is flooded, and has earned the nickname "SuperVenice". Several of the book's characters live in the MetLife Tower on 23rd Street, which the tenant association has outfitted with flood-prevention mechanisms and

boat A boat is a watercraft of a large range of types and sizes, but generally smaller than a ship, which is distinguished by its larger size, shape, cargo or passenger capacity, or its ability to carry boats. Small boats are typically found on inl ...

storage. Robinson chose to prominently feature the building as it was designed to resemble the

St Mark's Campanile St Mark's Campanile ( it, Campanile di San Marco, ) is the bell tower of St Mark's Basilica in Venice, Italy. The current campanile is a reconstruction completed in 1912, the previous tower having collapsed in 1902. At in height, it is the tal ...

. The affluent live in newly constructed skyscrapers in

Uptown Manhattan Upper Manhattan is the most northern region of the New York City borough of Manhattan. Its southern boundary has been variously defined, but some of the most common usages are 96th Street, the northern boundary of Central Park (110th Street), ...

and near The Cloisters, as both locations remain above water.

Denver Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unit ...

has replaced New York as the center of American finance and culture, and much of the United States has been deliberately abandoned by humans in order to make room for wildlife. Robinson has previously addressed

sea level rise Globally, sea levels are rising due to human-caused climate change. Between 1901 and 2018, the globally averaged sea level rose by , or 1–2 mm per year on average.IPCC, 2019Summary for Policymakers InIPCC Special Report on the Ocean and Cry ...

directly and indirectly in his works '' Aurora'', '' 2312'', and the '' Mars trilogy''.

Scientific accuracy

The book is set in a New York City suffering from a 50-foot rise in seawater. However, scientists suggest a rise between is more likely by 2140. A rise on that scale would likely mean that some portions of

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

, and

Queens Queens is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located on Long Island, it is the largest New York City borough by area. It is bordered by the borough of Brooklyn at the western tip of Long ...

would be flooded, but not to the extent as featured in the novel. However, some estimates indicate sea level rises even higher than depicted in the novel (up to 72 feet/22 meters) by the year 2300, if global warming increases to 5C (relative to pre-industrial levels). According to Robinson, he set the novel in 2140, as he wanted the setting to be recognizable, while the sea-level rise in the novel was possible but "extreme".

Themes

The

novel A novel is a relatively long work of narrative fiction, typically written in prose and published as a book. The present English word for a long work of prose fiction derives from the for "new", "news", or "short story of something new", itsel ...

is critical of

capitalism Capitalism is an economic system based on the private ownership of the means of production and their operation for Profit (economics), profit. Central characteristics of capitalism include capital accumulation, competitive markets, pric ...

, unregulated financial systems, and market economies. Many of the citizens of the city live in co-ops and rely on organizations that pool resources, while the affluent live in former office buildings and newly built skyscrapers above 125th Street and in Yonkers.

Reception

According to the literary criticism aggregator Literary Hub, critics gave the novel generally positive reviews. Gerry Canavan, writing for the ''

Los Angeles Review of Books The ''Los Angeles Review of Books'' (''LARB'' is a literary review magazine covering the national and international book scenes. A preview version launched on Tumblr in April 2011, and the official website followed one year later in April 2012. ...

'', referred to the novel as a further step in Robinson's " ..construction of a huge metatextual history of the future...distributed across overlapping but distinct and mutually irreconcilable texts". In 2022 article published by ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' about Robinson, Alexandra Alter referred to the novel as "oddly uplifting".

Ken Burns Kenneth Lauren Burns (born July 29, 1953) is an American filmmaker known for his documentary film, documentary films and television series, many of which chronicle United States, American History of the United States, history and Culture of the ...

has referred to the novel as "wonderful", saying that it "... asdisasters and climate change, but it also has sort of human adaptability, and it’s really spectacular."

References

External links

"Kim Stanley Robinson Tackles How to Keep a Drowning City Afloat"
on '' Science Friday'' {{Authority control 2017 American novels American science fiction novels Novels by Kim Stanley Robinson Novels set in the 2140s Novels set in New York City Orbit Books books Environmental fiction books Climate change novels Novels about cities Novels about floods Novels about geopolitics Novels about social issues Works about hurricanes Economics in fiction Books critical of capitalism