The Uninhabitable Earth cover art

The Uninhabitable Earth

A Story of the Future

 Preview
Try Standard free
Select 1 audiobook a month from our entire collection.
Listen to your selected audiobooks as long as you're a member.
Auto-renews at $8.99/mo after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

The Uninhabitable Earth

By: David Wallace-Wells
Narrated by: David Wallace-Wells
Try Standard free

Auto-renews at $8.99/mo after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy Now for $26.99

Buy Now for $26.99

About this listen

Brought to you by Penguin.

It is worse, much worse, than you think.

The slowness of climate change is a fairy tale, perhaps as pernicious as the one that says it isn't happening at all, and if your anxiety about it is dominated by fears of sea-level rise, you are barely scratching the surface of what terrors are possible, even within the lifetime of a teenager today.

Over the past decades, the term 'Anthropocene' has climbed into the popular imagination - a name given to the geologic era we live in now, one defined by human intervention in the life of the planet. But however sanguine you might be about the proposition that we have ravaged the natural world, which we surely have, it is another thing entirely to consider the possibility that we have only provoked it, engineering first in ignorance and then in denial a climate system that will now go to war with us for many centuries, perhaps until it destroys us. In the meantime, it will remake us, transforming every aspect of the way we live - the planet no longer nurturing a dream of abundance but a living nightmare.

Written and read by David Wallace-Wells, The Uninhabitable Earth is a powerful examination of the world we find ourselves in.

© David Wallace-Wells 2019 (P) Penguin Audio 2019

 Environment Future Studies Nature & Ecology Outdoors & Nature Political Science Politics & Government Science Social Sciences Natural Disaster War Socialism Capitalism

Critic Reviews

In crystalline prose, Wallace-Wells provides a devastating overview of where we are in terms of climate crisis and ecological destruction, and what the future will hold if we keep on going down the same path. Urgently readable, this is an epoch-defining book. (Matt Haig, 'The Book that Changed My Mind')
'Clear, engaging and often dazzling'
'A masterly analysis'
Relentless, angry journalism of the highest order. Read it and, for the lack of any more useful response, weep. . . .The article was a sensation and the book will be, too. (Bryan Appleyard)
The most terrifying book I have ever read . . . a meticulously documented, white-knuckled tour through the cascading catastrophes that will soon engulf our warming planet.
This is what I'm reading now: The Uninhabitable Earth by David Wallace-Wells. It focuses on the range of realistic possibilities with climate change. It does not sugarcoat, and can be quite scary -- that's without primarily focusing on the worstcase scenario. When people ask 'What can I do? - Read! What we need right now, in this country, is for all of us to be better, including ourselves.
A must-read. It's not only the grandkids and the kids: it's you. And it's not only those in other countries: it's you. (Margaret Atwood)
I've not stopped talking about The Uninhabitable Earth since I opened the first page. And I want every single person on this planet to read it.
Riveting . . . Some readers will find Mr Wallace-Wells's outline of possible futures alarmist. He is indeed alarmed. You should be, too.
Skipping the scientific jargon and relaying the facts in urgent and elegant prose, the magazine editor crafts a stirring wake-up call to recognize how global warming will permanently alter every aspect of human life. (Best Nonfiction Books of 2019 So Far)
All stars
Most relevant
a lot of effort goes into the denial of things as they are. It was a relief to listen this book (a bit at a time) and then make decisions on action based on a solid overview of a lot of those available choices.

difficult but clarifying

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
An essential book for anyone looking to understand more about climate change and its current and future impact. This book is very accessible and easy to understand. Highly recommended.

Eye-opening book

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
If you can get beyond the vocal fry of the author you will be blown away by this book.
The writing is excellent and the information compelling.

What the author lacks as a voice artist he more than makes up for as a journalist.

Also the planet is screwed :-(

Probably one of the most important books ever written

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
The Uninhabitable Earth paints a terrifying picture for the future of humanity in a warming world. And the most terrifying is how close it all feels, and that it’s been brought upon us and will continue to be brought upon us as a result of inaction

A terrifying analysis

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
David begins his narrative as someone who initially saw climate change as a far off and distant anomaly not to be really be concerned of in present tense, his exhaustive exploration in trying to synergies what the most up to date science is telling us, to complete a lacking media and political narrative is breathtaking in its depth and terrifying in its true context and consequence.
He outlines realistically how a heating world will affect so much more of human and non human life in ways few could imagine or know how to perceive.
He outlines in debt the mental and emotional and social and economical and environmental and civil costs of not just the future we will likely inherit even as a best case scenario but the horrors projected if we continue on our current course.
Some of it is speculative of course as we don’t have a crystal ball into the future but he gives the notion that his conclusions are conservative at best, his analysis is sound and its likelihood getting higher and higher as newer research is unveiled.
He explores the culpability aspect as well the denial aspect with great insight and maintains a cool and level head throughout. He expresses what the science is telling us, not via an emotional lease but through a desperate call to action. No one no matter of status is safe from the happening climate crisis.

He knows and the rest of the world needs to know to depth of this crisis, goes beyond today and what we see outside our window and that it is a collective responsibility. The craziness of this human suicide experiment is that we have the tools today to change course but choose not to.
Paul Hawkins Drawdown is a great illustration of what we have available today yet choose not to scale up and prevent our misery in the coming decades.
This is a prolific read a scientific and philosophical read that filled me with an intense anxiety throughout, but is a call to action for anyone who cares about their own livelihood in the coming years and decades and or the type of life and world their kids will inherit.
There really is no other book as succinct and poignant and necessary than this book.
Please I urge all to listen or read, and reflect and stand up and fight for your future. Because our politics and at times tailored self interests are incapable, but we have only the choices we make everyday to guide us.

The most important book of this century

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
See more reviews
In the spirit of reconciliation, Audible acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of country throughout Australia and their connections to land, sea and community. We pay our respect to their elders past and present and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples today.