Review of the book “The Uninhabitable Earth: A History of the Future” by David Wallace-Wells
Here is one of those hard to swallow but necessary works. As the author himself says in the very first chapter, "this book is not about the science of warming; it's about what warming means for the way we live on the planet" (although he does bring a little science to support some points), and if I had to summarize the contents of the book in one word, it would be "clarity".
Today everyone knows, even if little, about the issue of global warming and climate change, but what the vast majority does not know of - or ignores - is its urgency, or that it can interfere in areas of our daily lives that we cannot imagine before and , in that respect, this book becomes a great find, to draw our attention to exactly that point.
When we think of global warming, things like rising sea levels, air pollution and forest fires easily come to mind. But how many of us would readily think about how the increase in the planet's temperature can interfere with the nutrients in the food we eat, or that with the melting of the polar ice caps we can come into contact with diseases older than humanity and we wouldn't know what to expect from this interaction; or even how much it costs our economy to respond to environmental disasters or to adapt to a warmer planet. Well, the author Wallace-Wells thought and brought several studies done on these and other topics covered in this book, promoting an interesting and very broad discussion about the underestimated global warming. The biggest lesson learned from this reading was that the effects of climate change will not only be a problem for future generations, but it is already the harsh reality for many people around the world.
"The Uninhabitable Earth" brings the reader a lot to reflect on, not only in our role as consumers but above all as citizens, because as nations and as humanity we are responsible for the decisions of those we empower with our vote to represent us in governments.
For the rest, I leave my indication for reading this work. And as the author is a journalist, I also advise the company of a dictionary if you are not used to more formal/technical writing. I also invite readers to expand their perceptions by seeking to research more about the subjects covered, reading the works cited and expanding their knowledge on the subject of climate change.
