One book that does show a process of change, though not explicitly for climate change in the sense of AGW, is ‘Where Late the Sweet Bird Sang’ (Kate Wilhelm). This tells a generational story of survival of adverse change. If I remember right, it was written pre- global warming, or at least before the term was generally known.

I forget the actual cause of the change or even if it is actually stated. This book actually has a plot though, whereas the plot of ‘The Road’ seems to be ‘must go south, must go south’. I keep waiting to this element of ‘The Road’ to develop into something, but it never did. It was the first McCarthy that I have read though, so perhaps my expectations were wrong. Wilheim’s book also contains conflict between technofixism and back-to-basics adaptionism.

Yes, it is quite 1950’s sci-fi and the writing does seem to go a bit awry in the middle, when the plot seems to dominate the prose, but it is pretty good book even so. I don’t know whether it qualifies as ‘literature’ but as Paul hints, much of what makes the grade clearly isn’t, and much that is good gets ignored.

Another example of environmental change as a process, though on a shorter timescale, is H.G. Wells’ short story ‘The Star’. Another possibility, which I haven’t read, is his ‘In the Days of the Comet’.

(Hmmm… wonder if I got my ‘affects’ and ‘effects’ right.)