The Uninhabitable Earth
by David Wallace-Wells · first published 2019
50% recommend50% neutral
Why HN recommends it
Broad, unsparing overview of climate change's likely consequences, valued for being information-dense and candid about outcomes; suits readers new to the topic who want the bigger picture.
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
It is worse, much worse, than you think. If your anxiety about global warming is dominated by fears of sea-level rise, you are barely scratching the surface of what terrors are possible--food shortages, refugee emergencies, climate wars and economic devastation. An "epoch-defining book" (The Guardian) and "this generation's Silent Spring" (The Washington Post), The Uninhabitable Earth is both a travelogue of the near future and a meditation on how that future will look to those living through it--the ways that warming promises to transform global politics, the meaning of technology and natu
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TL;DR: Yup, we're doomed. Read or listen to David Wallace-Wells' Uninhabitable Earth[1] and/or Jem Bendell's Deep Adaptation[2] and decide for yourself. Both a couple of years old, neither will leave you the slightest bit optimistic. [1] http://nymag.com/intelligencer/2017/07/climate-change-earth-...…
on “Phytoplankton Population Drops 40 Percent Since 1950 (2010)” ↗I recently read, The Uninhabitable Earth. It came out this year I believe, and pulls absolutely no punches... Not even in the title! https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/41552709-the-uninhabitab...
on “Satellite Images Show Vast Swaths of the Arctic on Fire” ↗…"prediction" since the future is constructed from the past (that is, data) and not from the examination of pigeon entrails, tea leaves, or flakey models with deus ex machina solutions. David Wallace-Wells, The Uninhabitable Earth: Life After Warming would be a good choice. It's a snapshot of forecast reality, not near-future sci fi, and scary. https://smile.amazon.com/Uninhabitable-Earth-Life-After-Warm... Also worthwhile,…
on “Ask HN: What book has the most accurate depiction of tech in the next 10 years?” ↗There are researchers starting to connect the dots on near-term human extinction. A good summary is 'The Uninhabitable Earth' by David Wallace-Wells: http://nymag.com/intelligencer/2017/07/climate-change-earth-...
on “Fighting climate change may be cheaper and more beneficial than we think” ↗I highly recommend reading David Wallace-Wells' "The Uninhabitable Earth" - https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/41552709-the-uninhabitab... The book is quite information dense, intellectually honest with regard to the likelihood of various outcomes, and offers the clearest…
on “Why Climate Alarmism Hurts Us All” ↗…comprehensive reports about climate change. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Climate.gov (https://www.climate.gov/) provides climate news, data, maps, and more. Books: "The Uninhabitable Earth: Life After Warming" by David Wallace-Wells: This book offers an uncompromising look at the potential impacts of climate change if left unchecked. "This Changes Everything: Capitalism vs. The Climate"…
on “Is Mastodon mainly for far left?” ↗…_right now_ I can recommend a couple of books if you'd like to learn more: Our Final Warning: Six Degrees of Climate Emergency (https://www.amazon.com/Our-Final-Warning-Degrees-Emergency-e...) The Uninhabitable Earth: Life After Warming (https://www.amazon.com/Uninhabitable-Earth-Life-After-Warmin...) Hothouse Earth: An Inhabitant's Guide (https://www.amazon.com/Hothouse-Earth-Inhabitants-Bill-McGui...)
on “Among the A.I. doomsayers” ↗The Uninhabitable Earth by David Wallace-Wells - super eye opening.
on “Ask HN: Recommend one book I need to read this summer?” ↗…have entire populations of other countries and continents to move into yours. The amount of migration, displacement, rebuilding and major wars that would actually get us to that point is unimaginable. Uninhabitable Earth is terrifying, and convincing. I thought I had a pessimistic outlook on climate until I read that.
on “Temperature changes around the world – 1901-2018” ↗…grass, endless asphalt, concrete, poles, boxes and wires. Meat, milk, fruit, veg comes in plastic packs, and quite often ready cooked and prepared. One of the things that stuck with me most reading The Uninhabitable Earth - the most strident and urgent call to action on climate and environment I ever came across, was in his preamble. [paraphrasing badly from memory here] He talks of being perfectly chilled at achieving…
on “Birds Are Vanishing from North America” ↗…less carbon sequestration by phytoplankton, methane release from ice melts. There are more. Please read some recent literature to understand this better than anyone can summarize on HN. I recommend The Uninhabitable Earth
on “A Guide to Climate Change” ↗I would highly recommend “The Uninhabitable Earth”. I’m 27 and for at least 10 years I’ve been aware of the people trying valiantly to sound the alarm about climate change, but only recently has this disaster sunk in. Maybe it’s because it was the right…
on “Major new climate study rules out less severe global warming scenarios” ↗This and the suggested article after it [1] were easily the most depressing things I've read since Uninhabitable Earth many years ago Every time I read the "real" scientific outlook on climate change it's so disturbing I tend to disocciate for a bit and then move on to thinking about something else. I suspect a great…
on “When idiot savants do climate economics” ↗…collapse about 2030. We are seeing a species die-off worldwide both in terms of flora and fauna. Fishery collapse, measured by catch-size, is predicted to occur about 2048. David Wallace-Wells's The Uninhabitable Earth: Life after Warming is a frightening summary of what we can expect and is probably not too out-of-date. In ten years everyone, even current climate change deniers, will be fighting to survive in a much…
on “Ask HN: What will the world be like in 10 years?” ↗I‘m listening to the audiobook „The Uninhabitable Earth“ by David Wallace-Wells and it‘s really depressing stuff. The urgency is stunning.
on “"Ecological grief" grips scientists witnessing Great Barrier Reef’s decline” ↗