{{Short description|2021 non-fiction book by Elizabeth Kolbert}} {{DISPLAYTITLE:''Under a White Sky''}} {{Infobox book | image = Under a White Sky.jpg | author = Elizabeth Kolbert | pub_date = 2021 | title_orig = First edition | publisher = Crown Publishing Group }} '''''Under a White Sky: The Nature of the Future''''' is a 2021 environmental book by Elizabeth Kolbert.<ref>{{Cite magazine|url=https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/elizabeth-kolbert/under-a-white-sky/|title=UNDER A WHITE SKY |magazine=Kirkus |date=2020-12-22|access-date=2021-08-06|language=en-us}}</ref> The book follows many of the themes she explored in ''The Sixth Extinction.''
== Summary == ''Under a White Sky'' is focused on the various kinds of environmental crises created by the Anthropocene and different degrees of technological solutions available to humanity to address them – while also being critical of full-blown techno-solutionism.<ref name=":0">{{Cite news|last=Szalai|first=Jennifer|authorlink=Jennifer Szalai|date=2021-02-10|title=Electrified Rivers and Other Attempts to Save the Environment|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/10/books/review-under-white-sky-elizabeth-kolbert.html|access-date=2021-03-08|issn=0362-4331}}</ref><ref name=":1">{{Cite news|title='Under A White Sky' Examines What It Might Take For Humans To Continue To Exist|url=https://www.npr.org/2021/02/08/965306203/under-a-white-sky-examines-what-it-might-take-for-humans-to-continue-to-exist|access-date=2021-03-08|first=Adam|last=Frank|newspaper=NPR|date=8 February 2021|language=en}}</ref>
The title refers to the most extreme climate change mitigation strategy, solar geoengineering, designed to reflect sunlight from the earth.<ref name=":0" /> Throughout the book she explores how a technological fix for one problem can lead to further problems while also acknowledging the important role those technologies might play.<ref name=":2">{{Cite news|last=Lozada|first=Carlos|authorlink=Carlos Lozada (journalist)|title=Review {{!}} Why humanity can't be trusted to repair its own environmental damage|language=en-US|newspaper=The Washington Post|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/2021/02/11/kolbert-white-sky/|access-date=2021-03-08|issn=0190-8286}}</ref>
== Reception == Reception of the book was generally positive. ''The Washington Post'' praised it for "expertly mix[ing] travelogue, science reporting, and explanatory journalism, all with the authority of a writer confident enough to acknowledge ambiguity."<ref name=":2" /> ''The New York Times'' review focused on how the book explores the ambiguities of our current environmental crisis.<ref name=":0" /> A NPR review described the book as "tell[ing] by showing. Without beating the reader over the head, she makes it clear how far we already are from a world of undisturbed, perfectly balanced nature – and how far we must still go to find a new balance for the planet's future that still has us humans in it."<ref name=":1" /> The ''Rolling Stone''{{'}}s Jeff Goodell lauded Kolbert by saying, "To be a well-informed citizen of Planet Earth, you need to read Elizabeth Kolbert..."<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://sites.prh.com/elizabethkolbert|title = Elizabeth Kolbert}}</ref>
''Under a White Sky'' was shortlisted for the 2021 Wainwright Prize in the Global Conservation Writing category''.''<ref>{{Cite web|date=2021-08-21|title=Sethi, Winn and Rebanks shortlisted for Wainwright Prize|url=https://www.thebookseller.com/news/sethi-winn-and-rebanks-shortlisted-wainwright-prize-1274286|access-date=2021-08-05|website=The Bookseller|first=Ruth|last=Comerford}}</ref> The book made the long list for the 2022 Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Nonfiction.<ref>{{Cite web |title=2022 Winners |url=https://www.ala.org/rusa/awards/carnegie-medals/2022-winners |access-date=November 16, 2021 |website=American Library Association|date=17 October 2021 }}</ref> It was selected for ''The Washington Post''{{'}}s "10 Best Books of 2021" list.<ref>{{Cite news |date=November 18, 2021 |title=The 10 Best Books of 2021 |newspaper=The Washington Post |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/arts-entertainment/interactive/2021/best-books-2021/ |access-date=December 18, 2021}}</ref>
== References == {{Reflist}}
== External links == * {{Official website|https://www.penguinrandomhouse.ca/books/617060/under-a-white-sky-by-elizabeth-kolbert/9780593136270}} *[https://whyy.org/episodes/elizabeth-kolberts-under-a-white-sky/ Interview with the author on WHYY "Radio Times" podcast] *[https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/elizabeth-kolbert-under-a-white-sky-the-nature-of-the-future/id493864450?i=1000507027154 Discussion on the LA Review of Books podcast] {{Elizabeth Kolbert}} {{Authority control}}
Category:2021 non-fiction books Category:Climate change books Category:Environmental non-fiction books Category:Climate history Category:Science books Category:Climate change mitigation Category:2021 in the environment Category:Crown Publishing Group books Category:Futurology books