After the flood: Author Kim Stanley Robinson described the underwater life in new york in the future.

new york: 214, by Kim Stanley RobinsonOrbit Books, KDSP, by Kim Stanley Robinson's new novel new york 214》(Orbit, 217), Manhattan was partially submerged after the sea level rose by 5 feet (15m).

This story tells the story of a group of people who live in an apartment building (more or less). They pass by flyovers or canals, looking for buried treasures, trying to invade the global financial system, airlifting endangered polar bears from one pole to another, and fighting a building buyout plot-this is just a typical sampling activity, and one may encounter a post-apocalyptic world and continue. However, once again, the world is on the verge of change, and whether it is good or bad is a human choice.

Space and Robinson discussed how he developed his views on drowning new york, his thoughts on climate change, and the role of novels in determining the next action of mankind. [NASA's new model has drawn an unprecedented sea level rise map (video)]

Space: How did this story begin to develop at first? The way is that I really want to write a book about global finance. Now, how can we seize it, take it over and make it work for people? When I described the project to my editor, he said, "Well, can you put it in the drowned new york you briefly described in the novel 2312?"

When he gave me this idea, I thought it was perfect, because global finance has a center in new york, and then all the jokes about finance being underwater can conform to the actual situation. The reason put forward in this book is that climate change is basically a financial disaster, or it is caused by a bad economy rather than bad technology or pure population. This is a good suggestion, I just improvise.

We are in a political system of great economic separatism, which is actually the cause of the problem, so it is difficult to turn it into a solution. This is the story I want to tell.

Space: How do you enrich the future inundation of new york?

Robinson: First, I got the topographic [graphic] map of the area, including the interval of elevation contour lines, streets and bridges. I marked a contour interval of 5 feet around the map and transferred the new coastline to the tourist map. In the process of writing this book, I went to new york several times, from monasteries to Coney Island, and there are many places where people don't travel. I wandered around to see what the new sea level would be like. This and a lot of reading are the main contents of my research.

space: how do you study the science of what will happen to these buildings under flood conditions?

Robinson: There are some very interesting readings. There are these books [Height: Anatomy of Skyscrapers] and Works: Anatomy of Cities by Kate Ascher (Penguin Press, 211 and 27). They study the details of infrastructure. I also read a lot of books about Venice, because Venice is a typical drowned city-how do they cope with the rising tide, their "acqua alta", how do they cope with the corrosive power of salt water, and how do they deal with sewage and electric lights.

and I have to admit ... I have to do a little science fiction. In the next 12 years, because they have some technologies, materials science will give them so-called diamond spray and graphitized composite materials. Now, these two ideas are more than reality, but they are not far away. If you are dealing with a drowning new york, both materials are very useful.

I think there is no drowned land in Manhattan. new york is new york, which will be more valuable than ever. They will build a new skyscraper at the northern end of the island, which is gone now. Using graphitized composite materials, you can start on the moon, because this is what I am writing now, where you can transfer some of the dirtiest industries from the earth, which will reduce the need for the earth to clean up the pollutants we make.

Space: Can this fictional depiction help people avoid sea level rise? Or more like an exercise to see how human beings will survive? "

Robinson: Maybe both appear at the same time. For some time, there was a constant debate in the academic circles. I think it was mainly the debate between mitigation and adaptation in the academic circles. I have always supported reducing stress. We should try our best to minimize the climate change we are causing.

it is dangerous to write about climate change in a positive way. There is a danger that it won't be so bad, it will get better. Let's not worry now, let's not work too hard now. I have to take a good route, because I want to remind everyone that it will be a disaster in fact, but after that, it will not be the end of the world. I really want to oppose doomsday ideas. There is an idea that, well, after the destruction of the world, everything will be over, so we don't even have to worry now. There will be people around. In other words, I have to keep a very delicate balance in this book, and I hope I have done it.

This interview has been edited for a long time.

e-mail Sarah Lewin to slievin@space or follow her @ saraheplanes. Follow us @Spacedotcom, Facebook and Google+. The original article about space. “