The Uninhabitable Earth Insights

The must-read analysis of the key insights from "The Uninhabitable Earth" by David Wallace-Wells — presented by Athena.

Do nothing about climate change and we’re looking at a future filled with famine, political chaos, economic collapse and a sun that “cooks us.”

“It is, I promise, worse than you think.” So began the New York magazine article by David Wallace-Wells that went viral — and formed the basis for his new book, The Uninhabitable Earth. Its message is hard to stomach, but it’s also packed with so much truth — and excellent writing — that it's impossible to look away. Readers who think they know everything they need to know about climate change will be shocked to find the situation is more horrifying than they've imagined. And those who think it’s not that bad will be confronted with a volume of facts and science-based predictions that will convince them otherwise.

On an intellectual level, it's forceful writing backed by facts and research. On a human level, it's a sucker punch. The Uninhabitable Earth was named to several best-of-the-year lists — The New York Times, The New Yorker, The Economist, NPR, Time — and yet some critics railed against it. They claimed its message was so pessimistic and terrifying that it would only succeed in scaring readers away.

Plenty of other critics and readers, however, assert that provoking this level of fear is exactly the call to action we need.