The Uninhabitable Earth: Life After Warming

Reviewed by Keira Kang

With reports from NASA detailing the increased presence and intensity of climate-related catastrophes across the globe, our absolute need to address the climate phenomena has become more imperative than ever. In light of this, I picked up David Wallace-Wells’ The Uninhabitable Earth: Life After Warming to garner a clearer understanding of what the physical ramifications of continued global warming will look like and to gain a better sense of how all-pervasive the issue of climate change really is.

From the introductory chapters of Wallace-Wells’ book, the author unravels some of the most shocking predictions of global chaos driven by our current state of climate change. As the title of this book evidently states, Wallace-Wells illustrates that many parts of our planet will become utterly uninhabitable and inhospitable by the end of this century if governments and citizens stay on their path of complacency and indifference despite the current rate of global warming.

Wallace-Wells writes:

“Even though we now have a decent picture of the planet’s climatological past, never in the earth’s entire recorded history has there been warming at anything like this speed – by one estimate, around ten times faster than at any point in the last 66 million years.”

 Throughout his piece, the author frequently writes about his existential fears in ways that incite urgent action. He also incorporates an array of concrete scientific evidence to shed light on the consequences of climate change. Heat deaths, food shortages, poisoned air quality, the spread of plagues, and refugee emergencies are only a fraction of an endless list of terrifying repercussions of our climate-affected future. Not only has the Great Barrier Reef already been bleached to an unrecoverable state of extinction, but the melting Arctic permafrost also continues to leak methane gas at an unprecedented rate. Wallace-Wells suggests that while some regions are currently faced with the tangible damages of climate change, everyone will inevitably face deadly ramifications by the end of 2100 if no urgent action is taken by the Earth’s inhabitants now.

Despite an alarming prognosis of a potentially unlivable Earth, this book is an impactful call to action that highlights our dire need to strive towards reversing the destructive direction in which our planet is heading towards. In response to Wallace-Wells’ message, Citizens for Public Justice also stands firm under the belief that combating environmental degradation is a crucial duty for all people, as it directly responds to the Biblical mandate to protect and care for God’s sacred creation. As such, we encourage all people of faith to join us as leaders of climate justice through personal environmental stewardship, prayer, advocacy and a God-centered living that reflects the love that God has upon His creation.