The Uninhabitable Earth gives us reasons both for optimism and alarm

‘Carbon neutral’, ‘net zero’, ‘carbon emissions’ and ‘mass extinction’. Climate change can seem to be tangled in a sea of unintelligible terms for the general public.

They become familiar, they become part of the media landscape we consume daily and yet, many are still clueless about their meaning and impact on their lives.

One of my main challenge as a Climate & Sustainability Editor is striking the fine balance between informing and educating. I deeply believe in the power of education and the power that informed citizenship can hold.

The Uninhabitable Earth by David Wallace-Wells

I’ve publicly spoken about this book before and I consider it one of the best ones to get learning about climate change.

Wallace-wells explains in layman’s terms how our life will look like ‘after-warming’… Spoiler? It’s not looking great, he opens with: “It is worse, much worse, than you think.”

David Wallace-Wells, born in the US, is a historian and journalist for The New Yorker. Through four chapters: Cascades, Elements of Chaos, The Climate Kaleidoscope, and The Anthropic Principle, he takes us on a rather unpleasant journey.

A journey along our own faults and failures as a species and the consequences that await us: Hunger, drowning, wildfire, disasters -no longer natural-, dying oceans, and so on.

The book has strong research and scientific background at its core, which not only makes it informative but reliable.

What strikes the most is how current Wallace-wells prose feels.

Just in July, while I was reading this book, the United Kingdom reached record temperatures of over 40 degrees Celsius.

In the chapter ‘Elements of Chaos,’ lies the heat death: “How much hotter will it get? The question may sound scientific, inviting expertise, but the answer is almost entirely human- which is to say, political.”

How often are you reading a book about the future while its predictions are materialising in the present? That seems to be the case for most works on climate change, we’re driving directly towards an evitable precipice.

Both Wallace-Wells and I have something in common, despite all the odds against us, the clock ticking and the governments shortfalls, we both agree on this line: “Call me crazy, or better yet naive, but I still think we can.”

This article is also published on B24/7. illuminem Voices is a democratic space presenting the thoughts and opinions of leading Sustainability & Energy writers, their opinions do not necessarily represent those of illuminem.