I’m giving a talk about what we can expect in the Berkshires—weather-wise and economically, socially, and politically—as climate change continues to develop. Not surprisingly, the presentation’s title is “The Future of Climate Change in the Berkshires.”

Here’s a key question: This climate crisis future is terrifying enough, but might this be a future that remains open to our own agency and the potential in working together toward solutions?

This talk is supported by the Massachusetts Humanities Council and the Massachusetts Cultural Council, with additional promotion help from Citizens’ Climate Lobby, Massachusetts Chapter.

David Guenette is the author of The Steep Climes Quartet, a literary climate fiction thriller series that follows several Berkshire residents as they react to the effects of climate change across the span of nearly three decades. Kill Well, the first book in the series (published in Fall 2023), takes place only a couple of years from now. Dear Josephine begins in 2029 (Book Two, publishing in 2024). The action in Over Brooklyn Hills occurs in 2035 (Book Three, coming Spring 2025). Farm to Me takes place in 2047 (Book Four, due Fall 2025).

The climate change science, technologies, and politics in the books are grounded in long-term and in-depth study, rejecting needlessly gratuitous exaggeration for realistic extrapolation designed to help readers identify with their own reality of near-and mid-term futures. When it comes to climate change effects in our region, these are already present, making our world a more dangerous place and challenging citizens with difficult choices and surprising costs.

But the most important question is this: Can we work well enough together to rewrite our climate’s future?

After a brief introduction, the presentation follows this outline:

1. Knowing the Present State of Climate Change in The Berkshires
2. Imagining the Future of Climate Change in The Berkshires
3. Climate Change’s Potential Relevance to Political and Social Trends
4. Reading a Selected Excerpts from Kill Well and Dear Josephine

There will be plenty of time for questions and comments.

David Guenette was founder of Retrosheath, a deep energy retrofit digital tools start-up. He is a member of Citizens’ Climate Lobby Berkshires Chapter. He lives in New Marlborough, MA.