提摩太·莫頓認為全球暖化是一個超物件，這意味著它具有「粘滯的」、「非地域的」、「時間波動的」 、「階段的」及「相互作用的」性質。由於這些特性，全球暖化對人類和非人類的環境條件都產生重大影響。而人類則以虛偽、軟弱和跛行回應它們。因此，本論文著眼於探討三本小說中的全球暖化所帶來的環境問題：阿圖．赫爾佐克的《熱浪》，麥可．克萊頓的《恐懼之邦》，以及伊恩．麥克伊旺的《太陽能》。
就結構而言，論文分為五個部分。在導論中，我概述回顧並探討了全球暖化的脈絡及其在文學研究中的重要性。第一章探討阿圖．赫爾佐克的《熱浪》，其中的全球暖化問題已經成為人們日常關注的議題，人們因而期望科學家們可以思考出幫助他們應對生態危機的方法。第二章探討麥可．克萊頓的《恐懼之邦》，其中氣候變遷的議題被操縱控制利用，氣候變遷政治學扮演了重要角色。在第三章中，我分析伊恩．麥克伊旺的《太陽能》，它涉及了人類應對氣候變遷問題時的倫理和道德層面。最後總結部分，我指出全球暖化是一個悖論：一方面，人類具有解決這一問題的專業知識；另一方面，全球暖化對人類來說太複雜了，無法解決。人類必須採取行動以適應這種頻繁的氣候情況。總而言之，本篇論文探討了小說中的人物，在全球暖化時代裏面對道德倫理問題時，如何重塑他們的個人特質和文化信仰。

Timothy Morton considers global warming as a hyperobject, meaning that it is “viscous,” “nonlocal,” “temporally undulational,” “phasing,” and “interobjective.” Due to these properties, global warming has a significant impact on the human and nonhuman conditions. Human reaction to them is hypocrisy, weakness, and lameness. This dissertation thus looks at the environmental issues brought about by global warming in three novels: Arthur Herzog’s Heat, Michael Crichton’s State of Fear, and Ian McEwan’s Solar.  
Structurally speaking, the dissertation is divided into five parts. In the introduction, I give an overview of global warming and why it is important in literary studies. Chapter one deals with Arthur Herzog’s Heat in which the issue of global warming has become a matter of concern. As a result, scientists are expected to think about ways that can help them face ecological crisis. Chapter two investigates Michael Crichton’s State of Fear in which issues of climate change are manipulated and the politics of climate change plays a pivotal role. In Chapter three, I analyze Ian McEwan’s Solar. It is about the moral and ethical side of the human attempt to deal with the issue of climate change. In the conclusion, I point out that global warming is a paradox: on the one hand, humans have the professional knowledge to solve it; on the other, global warming is too complicated for humans to solve. Humans have to take actions to adapt to these frequent climate situations.  All in all, this dissertation examines how the characters reshape their personal and cultural beliefs when confronting moral and ethical issues in an age of global warming.

Acknowledgements.....................................	ii
Chinese Abstract.....................................	iii
English Abstract.....................................	iv
INTRODUCTION.........................................	1
      Strands of Ecocriticism........................	3
      Survey of Climate Change Fiction...............	4
      Morton’s Hyperobject...........................	8
      Dissertation Chapter Overview..................	21
CHAPTER ONE..........................................	26
      Viscosity in Arthur Herzog’s Heat..............	26
      Viscosity......................................	26
      Phasing........................................	38
      Temporal Undulation............................	41
      Nonlocality....................................	46
      The End of the World...........................	51
CHAPTER TWO..........................................	72
      The Politics of Climate Change in State of Fear..	72
      Climate Change: Risk and Danger................	78
      The Skeptics and Their Critics.................	86
      Age of Scares..................................	90
      Positive Optimism vs. Negative Pessimism.......	99
CHAPTER THREE........................................	108
      Hypocrisy, Uncertainty, and Cynicism in Solar..	108
      Hypocrisy......................................	112
      Uncertainty of Hyperobjects....................	123
      Cynicism.......................................	130
      Hyperobjects Bring Cynicism to an End..........	135
      CONCLUSION.....................................	139
Works Cited..........................................	156

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