The Uninhabitable Earth: Life After Warming, by David Wallace-Wells

Review by Dave Gamrath

Book Review:

In his book on climate change, The Uninhabitable Earth, David Wallace-Wells begins by stating "It's worse, much worse, than you think", then provides extensive details on how the world as we know it is already changing in grim ways. Climate change is happening much faster than most realize, and we have at most three decades to completely decarbonize before the truly devastating climate horrors begin. We have begun the sixth major extinction on Earth. Four of the past five extinctions have been due to climate change. We are not in a "new normal"; we are in "never normal again". Many climate scientists are now freaking out. Yikes.

There is extensive variability in climate forecasting, but the biggest variable is human response. The 2016 Paris Accords set two degrees Celsius as a global goal, which is considered to be the tipping point for collapse. We are nowhere close to meeting this goal. So far, our response has been mostly no change, setting the stage for 4.5 degrees of warming by 2100. Wallace-Wells describes life on a warmer planet and details the impact from two to eight degrees of warming. He covers twelve categories of impact, which he calls "Elements of Chaos".

The first is "Heat Death" where he quantifies the impact of much higher temperatures and heat waves. Impacts include high costs on infrastructure, loss of livable space and extensive deaths. Next is "Hunger": crop yields decline by roughly 10% with each degree of warming. The Green Revolution turned fossil fuels to food to feed millions, but will be negated by climate change with extensive loss of topsoil and arable land, and extreme droughts. Even though the rich emit by far more carbon, the most punishing impact will be on the poor.

Rising sea levels is element three. If we do nothing the Antarctic and Greenland ice will melt more quickly, releasing methane, and sea levels will rise from 150 to 260 feet. With major efforts on carbon reduction, six feet of rise is still possible by 2100. Resulting flooding and destruction costs will be in the trillions. Wildfires will be much more terrible in the decades to come. Today's horrid wildfires will soon seem like the good old days. The costs, in lives and dollars, will be staggering. Although natural disasters will literally explode, they won't honestly be "natural" any longer. Wallace-Wells discusses hurricanes, typhoons, tornados, wildfires, rain bombs, heat waves and other weather-driven events. They will be massive, and will explode migration levels as people try to survive.

Overpopulation remains a core issue. Global population is expected to reach up to 12 billion this century. Fresh water will become a scarce resource. Today, only 0.007% of the planet's water is available for people. Half the world depends on seasonal melt for their water, and much of this will disappear. Although demand will dramatically rise, fresh water availability will fall. Humans rely on oceans not only for food, but also to suck up our carbon emissions. Climate change is a detriment to the health of our oceans, and will result in extensive ocean acidification, loss of coral reefs, oxygen-free "dead zones", and a slowdown of ocean currents.

As carbon levels in air increase, it becomes unhealthier. Ironically, air pollution can help cool the planet, but at tremendous cost to our health. A warmer planet will see a rise in disease-carrying microorganisms. These critters will love a warmer planet. We can not only expect an expansion of diseases like Yellow Fever, Malaria, Zika, Lyme disease, etc., but also new disease mutations.

The hit on our economy will be much greater than the Great Depression, and won't be evenly spread, resulting in extensive friction and conflict. Heat leads to more violence. Don't look for patient, diplomatic requests from those made desperate with climate change. The US military is obsessed with climate change, for good reason. It is a force-multiplier and will lead to destabilization.

Wallace-wells discusses potential from what he calls "the church of technology" to save us. Polluting our atmosphere to cool the planet clearly comes at high risk and unintended consequences. Sucking carbon from the air will cost trillions. At today's pace, the necessary energy revolution will take 400 years, and moving to Mars just ain't going to happen.

Wallace-Wells closes the book with a discussion of what he calls The Climate Kaleidoscope and how we can be mesmerized by a threat in front of us yet not be able to perceive it clearly. The moral responsibility of climate change remains murky. He calls strictly blaming Republicans and Big Oil a form of American narcissism. We all engage in climate-destructive behaviors just living in our culture. Many, many dynamics keep us from acting, even though we have the tools that we need: a carbon tax, the will to phase out dirty energy, new agricultural practices, a shift away from beef and dairy, and public investment in green energy and carbon capture.

Wallace-Wells includes extensive, detailed notes, I.E., he ain't making any of this up. The data is nothing short of staggering. 3.7 degrees of warming will result in $551 trillion in damages, about double of today's global wealth. How can we afford not to take dramatic action? Those in power today, including Republicans in the US, are heatedly pushing for policies to exasperate climate change. It is a key wedge issue. Overcoming their well-seeded lies and misinformation, to generate public outrage and demands for climate action, is our most important political goal. Wallace-Wells states that at this point, personal lifestyle choices aren't nearly enough, unless scaled up by politics. Sure, the time to do this was thirty years ago. But if we aren't able to dramatically turn the tide immediately on this, in the next few decades our home planet may well become The Uninhabitable Earth.

Wallace-Well's book serves as an important primer to help get all of us active on the issue of climate change.

Reviewer Opinion:

A must read.

Reviewer Rating of Book:

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