Questions About The Uninhabitable Earth: Life After Warming

by David Wallace-Wells (Goodreads Author)

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Answered Questions (2)

Did you read both Wallace-Wells' 7,000 word article and this book? If so, can I just read the article and not the book, or does the book give something the article does not?

Prajwal I'm only partway through the book, but there is a lot more information in the book than in the article. Think of the article as an executive summary o…moreI'm only partway through the book, but there is a lot more information in the book than in the article. Think of the article as an executive summary of about half the book. :)(less)

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Is this book suitable for teenage readers as young as 13?

Daniel Suppose all the world's young people were scheduled to be thrown into the ocean at some future time. Would you want to teach them to swim, or just sur…moreSuppose all the world's young people were scheduled to be thrown into the ocean at some future time. Would you want to teach them to swim, or just surprise them? For anyone with children, I would say if you don't want them to curse you with their dying breath for failing to warn them of the catastrophe you threw them into, then at least warn them of the catastrophe you threw them into. And then apologize to them every day for the rest of your life for throwing them into it.

And from a practical perspective, while man-made global warming will probably be a catastrophe for everyone still alive by some future date, it won't be at first. Some people will get hit harder and sooner than others depending on the choices they make. At the barest minimum you don't want your children growing up to make monumentally stupid choices like buying coastal propery in Florida. Such property is going to become uninsurable a few decades before it goes underwater entirely. Maybe, with luck and smart planning, your children can arrange things so they are among the last to die. If they are really smart and lucky, they might even die of old age. But already that's looking less likely for many of today's children, let alone any children they themselves might be foolish enough to create.

Another consideration is that despite the seemingly unlimited capacity of humans to deny reality, it's still faintly possible that at some point the wildfires, famines, hurricanes, etc. will become so severe that people will finally get serious about banning fossil fuels. When that happens, you want your by-then adult children to be positioned in careers they can do without burning fossil fuels. So for one thing they shouldn't choose any career that involves air travel, either providing it or consuming it. (less)

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