Cli-Fi is a subgenre of science fiction (much
like dystopian, utopian, cyberpunk, and space odyssey) in literature and film. While science fiction was once primarily "about
science," it has since evolved into a far-reaching field that encompasses a variety of these subgenres. Cli-Fi is the assimilation of climate
change inspired science fiction coined by author Yolonda Sweitzer in her upcoming young adult novel WHEN THE FIRST LEAVES WILT.
While Science fiction is a genre of speculative fiction dealing with imaginative concepts such as futuristic settings, futuristic
science and technology, space travel, time travel, faster than light travel, parallel universes and extraterrestrial life, Cli-Fi, by
definition, deals specifically with a future
set against the backdrop of an extreme environment due to climate shift and adverse weather patterns due to human interference in
earth’
s natural balance. Science fiction often explores the potential consequences of scientific and other innovations, and has been called a "literature of ideas." Cli-Fi is no different in that sense, dealing most often with the man vs. nature themes of literature and maintaining a strong environmental subject.