Some of the technologies and solutions spotlighted by Kolbert are decidedly less heartwarming than others.

In a world where control is changing the world faster than we can keep up, often the only solution is more control. In trying to fix the world and make it more comfortable to us, we have embarked upon an ever-more complex and intricate web of possible solutions and unexpected consequences. What would that even mean?” Kolbert posited in a recent interview with Earth.Org. “We’re in so deep, that now it’s very difficult to say let’s pull back.

In many ways, the question at the core of this book is, simply, how far can this go?

All these solutions and techno-fixes are responses to crises, crises of our own making, and more often than not, these crises came about by humans trying to solve other crises. But for all the wonders of human ingenuity and earnest dedication of the scientists and experts from across the globe Kolbert speaks with, a heavy weight remains overhead. A topic she explored thoroughly in her Pulitzer Prize-winning previous outing, 2014’s The Sixth Extinction, Kolbert satisfyingly revisits the themes of the Anthropocene in Under a White Sky, this time focusing on technology, and how our thirst to change the world and find fixes to the obstacles in our path have tended to only lead to more problems.įrom the sinking Louisiana coastline to the imperiled Australian Barrier Reef, Kolbert takes her readers on a journey across the world and back to marvel at some of the most creative and simply inspiring solutions we have come up with to lessen the effects of climate change and biodiversity loss, the markers of the Anthropocene.īetween absurdly beautiful lab recreations of the reproduction cycles of corals and ingenious breakthroughs in genetic engineering, there is much to be inspired about in this book. Sometimes, we get ourselves into problems with no easy way out, and the question on everyone’s mind that nobody wants to ask is, how deep down does the rabbit hole go?Įlizabeth Kolbert can be considered one the world’s foremost literary experts on the Anthropocene, an epoch of the Earth’s history dated to when we humans began having significant impact on the planet’s geology and climate. Through it all, the author illustrates the ironic folly of human ingenuity. Partly an investigative report, partly a dark comedy, Kolbert sets off on a globe-trotting deep dive into the most futuristic, impressive and sometimes uneasy solutions humans have come up with in response to the environmental crises of our time. “A book about people trying to solve problems created by people trying to solve problems.” This is, in sum, what award-winning journalist and author Elizabeth Kolbert’s newest book, Under a White Sky, is about.

Under a White Sky by Elizabeth Kolbert