A Frightening Forecast
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Book Recommendation
The Uninhabitable Earth
by David Wallace-Wells (2019)
This is a pretty serious read! Written by David Wallace-Wells (an editor of New York Magazine), it essentially lays out the foreboding future we are currently heading towards. The fact that it’s written by a journalist rather than a scientist, in no way diminishes the science.
Rather, it makes for some powerful narration, as the author helps connect the dots for readers. Mr. Wallace-Wells has obviously absorbed copious amounts of data on the natural environment, technology, politics, human psychology, etc. The book covers a wide spectrum of understanding and genuinely projects the terrible danger we all face from global climate change.
The story is an effective one. Mr. Wallace-Wells provides readers with lots of scientific support in his explanations. Indeed, the book is loaded with sources! However, more than the listing of scientific research, I personally find his extensive descriptions to be of great value. It can have a visceral effect, as it manages to connect deeply on both an emotional and intellectual level. We are entering the danger zone.
A Crucial Narrative
Throughout his writing, Wallace-Wells is able to clearly communicate the very real and encroaching threat to human civilization. The scientists have warned us, time and time again (see also Running Low On Time). Rather, Wallace-Wells paints for us, with painful clarity, the picture of the future course on which we are currently set.
His book is brilliant, if chronically painful to digest. He has managed to condense so much information from so many sources, compiling it into a comprehensible message. Namely, one of urgency and concern. We are warming our planet at an unprecedented rate, and the effects are extensive and terrifying.
Thankfully, there is still time to take significant action and hopefully avert the worst of it. Certainly, a must-read for most humans, especially those of us concerned with climate change. I highly recommend it (unless you’re currently pregnant, in which case, I’d wait this one out till after you’ve given birth)!
