David Wallace-Wells The Uninhabitable Earth Summary
Carbon, the fourth most abundant element in the universe, fabricates life on earth. Its complex versatility condemns these creations to destruction. Carbon's disastrous course dates back to 252 million years ago; the temperature of the planet rose five degrees causing the release of methane from the artic. This incident left 97 percent of all life on earth dead, broadcasting that what is created can be destroyed. Carbon's malicious path did not end all those years ago, but instead it continues to destroy the earth and everything it inhabits. In the article "The Uninhabitable Earth", the author David Wallace-Wells does an excellent job of showing what the horrific outcome of the plant will be. However, he fails to address the tremendous effort
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by scientist attempting to prevent future damage. Diamonds, a girl's best friend, are formed by pure carbon meeting high temperatures and extreme pressure.
They were created in heats up to three times more than a human can withstand. In fact, moving around outside when its more than 105 degrees Fahrenheit is lethal within hours. Chicago and Milwaukee have both experienced this heat, that can cook the body from the inside out. Places across the globe are beating this record as the planet begins to boil. Wallace-Wells includes these heart-wrenching observations in an attempt to show the reader what is truly at stake. He is directly targeting the readers emotions allowing them to view climate change at the velocity that he believes it should be. At 11 degrees of warming more than half of the world's population would die of direct heat. Even 4 degrees of warming would make the deadly European heat wave of 2003, that killed over 2,000 people, a normal summer. Unbearable heat coupled with extreme drought causes dehydration across the world; that often times ends in kidney failure, leaving patients with weeks to live without the treatments that they simply cannot afford. Wallace-Wells presents a great point of diseases that arise from planet warming, a conclusion that most would not come to by themselves. These rising temperatures may not seem to affect the entire population; however, a warmer planet shortens life expectancy by up to ten years. This quantitative observation is an insight into the magnitude of what the earth is
facing. The Amazon Rainforest, the source of 20 percent of the world's oxygen, is facing devastating droughts that raise the chance of fires. Forest fires across the globe cause the release of CO2 to increase by up to 40 percent, each fire. These fires accelerate the heating process causing warming of up to 5 degrees. These 5 degrees present "50 percent more people to feed and 50 percent less grain to give them" (Wallace-Wells). As of today, there are over 800 million unnourished people on earth and this number will continue to grow as some of the world’s most arable land is turning to desert. Wallace-Wells provides the reader with a lot of numerical facts, presenting excellent proof of the reality of what the earth will diminish to. This statistical approach allows him to build his creditability and gain the readers trust that this is an accurate representation of earth’s future. Droughts are often looked past considering the mass floods that have been occurring. The world is in danger of losing a third of its major cities with a projected minimum of four feet of sea level rise. Wallace-Wells points out that "the ocean consumes more than a third of the world's carbon adding half a degree of warming"; a scary fact considering the public believes that the ocean is a savior for absorbing the excess carbon (Wallace-Wells). This carbon seeps into the sea life, that humans rely on for food, making consumption deadly. Carbon absorption causes fish to leave the depths of the ocean and rise to the surface where they will suffocate, in turn feeding oxygen-eating bacteria and repeating this cycle. Throughout this article, Wallace-Wells does an excellent job of providing the reader with logical reasoning. He creates a clear message and is able to convey the damage that the earth will suffer. It is easy to see that carbon is destroying the planet and that something needs to be done to lessen whatever damages may come; however, he does not provide the reader with everything that scientists are inventing. This article is very informative for those who are interested in the effects of climate change on the planet, but it does not help those who would like faith that the planet will be okay. The article is available with annotations by scientists, this gives a greater insight into the thinking that occurred when warning the world of these dangers. While it is great to be informed of what will happen to the planet, it would be helpful to understand what the world could do to diminish the casualties. Carbon is destroying its creations at a rapid rate. Wallace-Wells explains that lives, buildings, and states are quickly diminishing. Carbon is warming the planet to dangerous levels putting human life at risk for starvation and heat stroke. This heat is often times coupled with terrible droughts or floods, causing dehydration and sea level rise. These scary facts are well thought out and presented carefully. A reader may come to the conclusion that if human beings do not start taking care of the planet carbon will destroy everything its complexity once created. Without the knowledge of what scientists are doing to help the planet, as far as the reader knows it may even be too late.
by scientist attempting to prevent future damage. Diamonds, a girl's best friend, are formed by pure carbon meeting high temperatures and extreme pressure.
They were created in heats up to three times more than a human can withstand. In fact, moving around outside when its more than 105 degrees Fahrenheit is lethal within hours. Chicago and Milwaukee have both experienced this heat, that can cook the body from the inside out. Places across the globe are beating this record as the planet begins to boil. Wallace-Wells includes these heart-wrenching observations in an attempt to show the reader what is truly at stake. He is directly targeting the readers emotions allowing them to view climate change at the velocity that he believes it should be. At 11 degrees of warming more than half of the world's population would die of direct heat. Even 4 degrees of warming would make the deadly European heat wave of 2003, that killed over 2,000 people, a normal summer. Unbearable heat coupled with extreme drought causes dehydration across the world; that often times ends in kidney failure, leaving patients with weeks to live without the treatments that they simply cannot afford. Wallace-Wells presents a great point of diseases that arise from planet warming, a conclusion that most would not come to by themselves. These rising temperatures may not seem to affect the entire population; however, a warmer planet shortens life expectancy by up to ten years. This quantitative observation is an insight into the magnitude of what the earth is
facing. The Amazon Rainforest, the source of 20 percent of the world's oxygen, is facing devastating droughts that raise the chance of fires. Forest fires across the globe cause the release of CO2 to increase by up to 40 percent, each fire. These fires accelerate the heating process causing warming of up to 5 degrees. These 5 degrees present "50 percent more people to feed and 50 percent less grain to give them" (Wallace-Wells). As of today, there are over 800 million unnourished people on earth and this number will continue to grow as some of the world’s most arable land is turning to desert. Wallace-Wells provides the reader with a lot of numerical facts, presenting excellent proof of the reality of what the earth will diminish to. This statistical approach allows him to build his creditability and gain the readers trust that this is an accurate representation of earth’s future. Droughts are often looked past considering the mass floods that have been occurring. The world is in danger of losing a third of its major cities with a projected minimum of four feet of sea level rise. Wallace-Wells points out that "the ocean consumes more than a third of the world's carbon adding half a degree of warming"; a scary fact considering the public believes that the ocean is a savior for absorbing the excess carbon (Wallace-Wells). This carbon seeps into the sea life, that humans rely on for food, making consumption deadly. Carbon absorption causes fish to leave the depths of the ocean and rise to the surface where they will suffocate, in turn feeding oxygen-eating bacteria and repeating this cycle. Throughout this article, Wallace-Wells does an excellent job of providing the reader with logical reasoning. He creates a clear message and is able to convey the damage that the earth will suffer. It is easy to see that carbon is destroying the planet and that something needs to be done to lessen whatever damages may come; however, he does not provide the reader with everything that scientists are inventing. This article is very informative for those who are interested in the effects of climate change on the planet, but it does not help those who would like faith that the planet will be okay. The article is available with annotations by scientists, this gives a greater insight into the thinking that occurred when warning the world of these dangers. While it is great to be informed of what will happen to the planet, it would be helpful to understand what the world could do to diminish the casualties. Carbon is destroying its creations at a rapid rate. Wallace-Wells explains that lives, buildings, and states are quickly diminishing. Carbon is warming the planet to dangerous levels putting human life at risk for starvation and heat stroke. This heat is often times coupled with terrible droughts or floods, causing dehydration and sea level rise. These scary facts are well thought out and presented carefully. A reader may come to the conclusion that if human beings do not start taking care of the planet carbon will destroy everything its complexity once created. Without the knowledge of what scientists are doing to help the planet, as far as the reader knows it may even be too late.