On Wednesday, February 16th, David Wallace-Wells came to Transylvania University’s Carrick Theater to talk about his book “The Uninhabitable Earth Life After Warming”

Who is David Wallace-Wells?

David Wallace-Wells is a 39-year-old American climate journalist who was born and raised in New York City and is best known for his book The Uninhabitable Earth Life After Warming. 

At the beginning of his talk, he provided a disclaimer to the audience about his qualifications saying: while he is NOT an environmentalist, he has had many personal experiences with climate change that has changed his perspective on the topic. 

“I spent my life complacent from global warming and that it was happening very far from me” he explained, but has “spent the last couple years in a dizzy awakening”

What did he have to say?

Before David Wallace-Wells began, there was a speech from 21-year-old Liam who was a student of Dr. Brian Rich in First Year Seminar where they were able to read The Uninhabitable Earth Life After Warming. When Liam began to speak, it was abundantly clear that he was Australian. While in Dr. Rich’s class, his home of Australia, was suffering from wildfires and bushfires that killed approximately a billion animals and destroyed countless homes. These horrible conditions are directly related to the exploitation of fossil fuels.

When Wallace-Wells first came on stage, he began his talk by presenting the good news: he does not think that the Earth will actually become inhabitable for humankind on a timeline of decades or centuries that we as a current society will be a part of. Wallace-Wells’ talk soon became very sobering and the room began to have a thick layer of tension. He said that even if we as a society avoid the worst-case scenarios, that isn’t winning. We have already lost but the real question is: how much will we lose? 

He then says that we instead have to think about the REAL questions: How do we define habitability in the decades to come? What impacts will we endure? What will the burdens be for future generations? He begins to answer these questions by providing his three aspects that impact what the future will look like: The speed of change and momentum of effects of climate change, the speed of human response, and the speed of disorientation

Speed of change and momentum of effects of climate change:

Our current definition of climate change began during the Industrial Revolution and half of the emissions of burning fossil fuels have come from the last 30 years. Today, the planet is 1.2 or 1.3 degrees warmer than the start of the Industrial Revolution. This is not the work of many generations, just one: ours. We are just now finally beginning to see climate change, and we will write the story of the climate’s future whether we like it or not. 

If things keep going the way that they have been, large portions of the world with high populations will be hit hard and will lose half or more of economic growth. Just to name a few, croplands can be less productive at the end of the century, high levels of warming can double war, violence, and assaults, infectious diseases can worsen, wildfires fanned. 

Speed of human response:

Impacts only tell half the story, and human response will be the other. As awful as this future looks, those impacts are a reflection of our power over the climate. Society is still engaged in denial, but there has been a global political awakening. The age of climate denial is beginning to decline due to climate speakers who feel an obligation to show support for climate action. Choices can be made now and in the future to combat climate change and we can make different sets of choices, but change is disruptive and oftentimes a foreign concept.

Speed of disorientation:

Wallace-Wells thought the future would be more prosperous, but he doesn’t believe that anymore after seeing how the world has changed for the worse. Climate change can be overcome on a physical scale, but it’s not something that a lot of people care about. Also, prediction models of change are no longer something we can rely on, as “It’s a mistake to take to the bank these predictions”.

The Amazon rainforest has stopped absorbing carbon dioxide and has switched from a carbon sink to a carbon source and air pollution from fossil fuels kills 10 million people per year. Nature is a conceptual category. In the past few decades, nature has come to play a role in society: it shows our humility and our future and reminds us of what’s truly important.

Questions Asked by Audience Members

During his speech, audience members were encouraged to text their questions for Wallace-Wells to answer. This is what they had to say:*

• How do you convince someone to care about the environment?

Well, this is a smaller problem than it used to be because the evidence is stronger for climate change and people are more concerned about climate than they were in the past. The big problem is complacency. 

• How can we distinguish between greenwashing (empty promises) and actual clean corporations? 

This is not a question someone would have asked 5 years ago which is progress within itself. But, these corporations can’t get away with empty climate rhetoric forever. We have to be realistic. Are the pledges that are being made even possible?

• How do you feel about nuclear power?

I am conflicted about it. I feel it is a bad idea to close nuclear plants running safely before we have the means to replace them safely. Plus, nuclear power is much more expensive than fossil fuels and it’s better to invest in renewables and not nuclear. That being said, people die every day from fossil fuels more than anyone has died from nuclear plant meltdowns.

*Answers and questions have been shortened for length/clarity and the information has been paraphrased

How did Students Respond?

After attending the event, I asked some students who were in attendance how they felt about David Wallace-Wells and his speech. Some chose to stay anonymous.

Josie Grant: “ Wallace-Wells brought up both emotional and logistical arguments to persuade the student body and other people in the audience to have an open and honest conversation about the effects of climate control and what we can do in our daily lives to make a difference”

Anonymous Student: “I loved what Wallace-Wells had to say! I’ve always been fascinated with climate change and it’s crazy to see how bad things really are.”

Anonymous Student: “His speech was so interesting in my opinion. The things he said were so raw and real. It was very eye-opening listening to him speak. He said things that I never would have thought about and problems I didn’t even know existed. I think I may buy a copy of his book!”

Almost two years ago after the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, Transy was forced to bring home all students studying abroad and hasn’t been able to send anyone anywhere since. The current students here at Transy who have actually had the opportunity to study abroad are few and far between, while those who have had to push back their trips semester after semester seem to be easier to find. Tatianna Verswyvel is a senior here at Transy studying International Affairs who had the opportunity to study abroad in the Czech Republic the spring semester of her sophomore year before returning to the states in March. As discouraging as times like these can make us feel about the possibility of traveling abroad, Tatianna had some incredible things to say, both about her own experience, and advice towards those who are feeling defeated now.

How has the uncertainty of the last few years impacted your view of your experience abroad?

“The last two years have really put my brief time abroad into perspective, mainly because I haven’t felt as free or as spontaneous since I returned. There is an unprecedented amount of opportunity when you’re exploring a new city, meeting people that don’t share your same background, attending a new school. Perhaps even more than opportunity, I felt possibility. As cliche as it sounds, there was a sense that anything could happen. Now, when we have to keep our expectations low just in order to cope with the likelihood of disappointment, that feeling of possibility feels foreign. That’s what I miss the most and what I’m most thankful I got to experience before the world completely changed.”

Do you feel that your experience abroad has prepared you for graduation and your future plans?

“Despite the uncertainty that we live with today, my time abroad taught me that hard work is rewarded. I received a competitive federal scholarship that paid for that semester in full, an achievement which really enriched both my time abroad but also my overall confidence as a student and a person. In addition, excelling in my classes that semester at what is considered one of the best universities in Europe equipped me with confidence in my academic background and my overall preparedness to participate in the real world.”

At this point, would you encourage students to try and study abroad in college?

“Without a doubt, study abroad is something to put yourself out there for. I know it’s hard to rationalize in the current climate of uncertainty, but it really pays off. I’m not sure if studying abroad in the COVID era will provide the exact same sliver of magic that I feel lucky enough to have received, but it’s worth finding out. Most importantly, don’t be discouraged to travel for non-academic reasons. Most people whose study abroad plans keep falling through are due to their program’s dependence on institutional aid and thereby institutional guidelines, but traveling on one’s own is still very much a possibility.”

Knowing that students at Transy who have actually had the opportunity to study abroad are few and far between, what would your advice be to students who have had to keep pushing their semesters back?

“I don’t know whether this uncertainty is going away anytime soon, therefore I understand the emotional and mental strain that students in this position are undergoing. For this reason, I’d ask them to really evaluate their reasons for studying abroad and contemplate whether their goals can be met in different, albeit inferior ways. Like I said, traveling during COVID is not impossible. I spent two weeks in Europe this summer wearing masks and abiding by local restrictions and I still enjoyed myself. If your goal is to practice a second language, there are remarkable ways to do that remotely. If your goal is to meet new people or take classes that specialize in a subject/region that Transy doesn’t offer, there are ways to do that. To me, it’s worth exploring the possibility of studying abroad with a third party that does not answer to our federal and institutional guidelines, bearing in mind that your time abroad will probably not count towards the completion of your Transy degree. That’s likely what I would do if I were in that position. Last thing I would say is that there is no arbitrary deadline or age by which you MUST achieve your international goals. The world, as far as I know, will still be there when COVID subsides, and opportunities to participate in educational experiences abroad will not end once you’re out of college. People who claim that their biggest regret is not studying abroad in college, in my opinion, are not thinking big enough. As long as you set time and resources aside for these goals, they don’t have to have an expiration date.”

Studying abroad is a big part of the traditional college experience, and it is unfortunate that we continue to see this opportunity taken away from students due to the ongoing pandemic. Hopefully someday soon we will be able to see many students studying abroad and exploring the beautiful world we live in, but until then it’s important to keep our heads up.