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A review by surbhibee
The Uninhabitable Earth: Life After Warming by David Wallace-Wells
4.0
I first encountered David Wallace-Wells writing in [b:The Best American Nonrequired Reading 2018|37570447|The Best American Nonrequired Reading 2018|Sheila Heti|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1532659086l/37570447._SY75_.jpg|59181715], where his NY Mag essay of the same name as this book was compiled. I remember being particularly struck by a paragraph on Fermi's Paradox (if the universe is so infinitely big, why have we not yet encountered another sentient life-form) and the "Great Filter" explanation (that sentient life-forms do arise, but often quickly die off due to environmental filters that kick in due to their own destructive actions). Going back to the paragraph now, when I am 1.5 years older and relatively better read, I no longer find it super profound, but DWW's writing still enchants.
The Uninhabitable Earth: Life After Warming is not an enjoyable read. It is deeply depressing, to the point that I could only bear to listen to it when I was in very specific moods. The first part of the book, "Elements of chaos," consists of several chapters that each focus on a different kind of environmental catastrophe that climate change has already started and will continue to wreak--flooding, wildfires, air pollution, hunger, climate conflict. DWW uses a breadth of research to illustrate the starkness of climate change's impacts, and the information richness was a little dizzying in audiobook form. (I also read in some reviews that a few of the papers he cites were less than well-received, but that hardly changes the overall points he is trying to make). The individual bits of evidence matter less than the overall picture they paint, a picture that left me sad and anxious at the end of each listening session. The information is likely nothing new for people who have been in touch with climate change issues over the years, but consuming it in aggregate, at once, is a powerful exercise in itself.
I was particularly impressed by the second part of the book, "The climate kaleidoscope." Here DWW tells a Yuval Noah Harari-esque big history of how we think about and deal with climate change, touching on topics from Silicon Valley saviourism to representations of the environment and apocalypse in the media.
At times, The Uninhabitable Earth appears to descend into hyperbole and alarmism, but DWW is acutely aware of his own rhetoric and constantly asks the reader how any of the dangers he outlines can be treated with anything but alarm. This is a valuable book, not just for people who spend time thinking about our planets future, but especially for those (like me) who find that they haven't engaged as much with these issues of literal planetary importance.
The Uninhabitable Earth: Life After Warming is not an enjoyable read. It is deeply depressing, to the point that I could only bear to listen to it when I was in very specific moods. The first part of the book, "Elements of chaos," consists of several chapters that each focus on a different kind of environmental catastrophe that climate change has already started and will continue to wreak--flooding, wildfires, air pollution, hunger, climate conflict. DWW uses a breadth of research to illustrate the starkness of climate change's impacts, and the information richness was a little dizzying in audiobook form. (I also read in some reviews that a few of the papers he cites were less than well-received, but that hardly changes the overall points he is trying to make). The individual bits of evidence matter less than the overall picture they paint, a picture that left me sad and anxious at the end of each listening session. The information is likely nothing new for people who have been in touch with climate change issues over the years, but consuming it in aggregate, at once, is a powerful exercise in itself.
I was particularly impressed by the second part of the book, "The climate kaleidoscope." Here DWW tells a Yuval Noah Harari-esque big history of how we think about and deal with climate change, touching on topics from Silicon Valley saviourism to representations of the environment and apocalypse in the media.
At times, The Uninhabitable Earth appears to descend into hyperbole and alarmism, but DWW is acutely aware of his own rhetoric and constantly asks the reader how any of the dangers he outlines can be treated with anything but alarm. This is a valuable book, not just for people who spend time thinking about our planets future, but especially for those (like me) who find that they haven't engaged as much with these issues of literal planetary importance.