David Wallace-Wells
@dwallacewells.bsky.social
New York Times Opinion writer and New York Times Magazine columnist. Newsletter on climate and the messy future (https://tinyurl.com/dwwnyt). Author of The Uninhabitable Earth.
https://www.nytimes.com/newsletters/david-wallace-wells
https://www.nytimes.com/newsletters/david-wallace-wells
Reposted by David Wallace-Wells
“Survey conducted in April 2025 and published on Sunday by the Israel Democracy Institute finds more than 25% of Israelis are now considering leaving Israel behind.” forward.com/opinion/7863...
More than 25% of Israelis want to leave the country. How did we get here?
More than 1/4 of Israelis want to move elsewhere — a repudiation of war, a fragile economy, and a weakening of the founding Zionist promise.
forward.com
November 27, 2025 at 1:27 AM
“Survey conducted in April 2025 and published on Sunday by the Israel Democracy Institute finds more than 25% of Israelis are now considering leaving Israel behind.” forward.com/opinion/7863...
“The lifetime emissions generated by every 3.5 Americans today will kill one person by the end of the century.”https://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/measure-climate-progress-in-lives-improved-by-gernot-wagner-2025-11?
How to Measure Climate Progress
Gernot Wagner thinks tackling the problem is justified on social and economic grounds, not existential ones.
www.project-syndicate.org
November 24, 2025 at 3:07 AM
“The lifetime emissions generated by every 3.5 Americans today will kill one person by the end of the century.”https://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/measure-climate-progress-in-lives-improved-by-gernot-wagner-2025-11?
“It remains the case that we are embarking on—in fact, accelerating—the biggest chemistry experiment on the planet in 66 million years, and one of the fastest derangements of the carbon cycle in the age of animal life.” www.theatlantic.com/science/2025...
Climate Realism Is a Delusion
By shooting for 3 degrees Celsius of warming, the world could slide toward a more cataclysmic 4 degrees.
www.theatlantic.com
November 23, 2025 at 7:09 PM
“It remains the case that we are embarking on—in fact, accelerating—the biggest chemistry experiment on the planet in 66 million years, and one of the fastest derangements of the carbon cycle in the age of animal life.” www.theatlantic.com/science/2025...
“What once sounded unthinkable is now being said openly: Tehran is not viable; and evacuation orders are imminent.
As I wrote before, President Masoud Pezeshkian himself said that it might be necessary to relocate Tehranis in large number.” open.substack.com/pub/peterfra...
As I wrote before, President Masoud Pezeshkian himself said that it might be necessary to relocate Tehranis in large number.” open.substack.com/pub/peterfra...
Makran or Bust: Tehran's water crisis gets worse
Ten days ago I wrote that Tehran was approaching a point where warnings, pressure cuts and appeals to save water would no longer be enough.
open.substack.com
November 22, 2025 at 9:06 PM
“What once sounded unthinkable is now being said openly: Tehran is not viable; and evacuation orders are imminent.
As I wrote before, President Masoud Pezeshkian himself said that it might be necessary to relocate Tehranis in large number.” open.substack.com/pub/peterfra...
As I wrote before, President Masoud Pezeshkian himself said that it might be necessary to relocate Tehranis in large number.” open.substack.com/pub/peterfra...
“At current prices, the value of those IBIT holdings sits at around $364 million.” gizmodo.com/the-harvard-...
The Harvard Endowment’s Biggest Public Investment is Now Bitcoin
The endowment dramatically increased its holdings of a spot bitcoin ETF since its previous such report.
gizmodo.com
November 22, 2025 at 1:46 AM
“At current prices, the value of those IBIT holdings sits at around $364 million.” gizmodo.com/the-harvard-...
Reposted by David Wallace-Wells
You ever just sit down and realize that the rise of 21st century fascism is capital's answer to climate change?
November 21, 2025 at 9:25 AM
You ever just sit down and realize that the rise of 21st century fascism is capital's answer to climate change?
“One implication of the increased growth rate of GHG forcing in the last 15 years is that the goal to keep global warming under 2°C is now implausible.” open.substack.com/pub/jimehans...
Warning! This “Colorful Chart” is Censored by IPCC
James Hansen, Pushker Kharecha and Dylan Morgan
open.substack.com
November 21, 2025 at 6:38 PM
“One implication of the increased growth rate of GHG forcing in the last 15 years is that the goal to keep global warming under 2°C is now implausible.” open.substack.com/pub/jimehans...
Reposted by David Wallace-Wells
“If we drive the carbon cycle far enough from equilibrium, it will respond in kind, no matter how hard we try to subordinate it to the market, or tame it with panicked legislation.” - @peterbrannen.bsky.social (quote from Peter’s excellent new book)
Carbon dioxide (CO₂) averaged about 425 ppm in October 2025
10 years ago October averaged about 398 ppm
Data available at gml.noaa.gov/ccgg/trends/
10 years ago October averaged about 398 ppm
Data available at gml.noaa.gov/ccgg/trends/
November 18, 2025 at 1:51 AM
“If we drive the carbon cycle far enough from equilibrium, it will respond in kind, no matter how hard we try to subordinate it to the market, or tame it with panicked legislation.” - @peterbrannen.bsky.social (quote from Peter’s excellent new book)
“The peptide free-for-all is the logical endpoint of a healthcare system where feeling optimised matters more than being safe, and where the new HHS Secretary actively dismantles the guardrails which might protect consumers from contaminated vials and 12,000% markups.”
unherd.com/newsroom/rfk...
unherd.com/newsroom/rfk...
RFK Jr is boosting America’s peptide obsession
When 30 million Americans learnt to inject themselves with Ozempic, they lost weight while creating the infrastructure for an entirely unregulated peptide market. Health and Human Services Secretary R...
unherd.com
November 17, 2025 at 2:32 AM
“The peptide free-for-all is the logical endpoint of a healthcare system where feeling optimised matters more than being safe, and where the new HHS Secretary actively dismantles the guardrails which might protect consumers from contaminated vials and 12,000% markups.”
unherd.com/newsroom/rfk...
unherd.com/newsroom/rfk...
“More than 50 days have passed since the start of Iran’s rainy season and more than 20 provinces have not yet had a drop. The number of dams that have less than 5% of their reservoir capacity had increased from eight to 32, and the crisis has spread from the central plains right across the country.”
November 16, 2025 at 9:30 PM
“More than 50 days have passed since the start of Iran’s rainy season and more than 20 provinces have not yet had a drop. The number of dams that have less than 5% of their reservoir capacity had increased from eight to 32, and the crisis has spread from the central plains right across the country.”
Reposted by David Wallace-Wells
“Even for an intermediate emissions scenario [which is our current emissions pathway] the probability of AMOC shutdown is way above 50%”
(AMOC shut-down means Europe and parts of South-East Asia become uninhabitable, by the way.)
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(AMOC shut-down means Europe and parts of South-East Asia become uninhabitable, by the way.)
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Is the Atlantic Ocean circulation close to tipping?
Hear the latest science as I presented it last month at the ATLAS25 event in Helsinki.
Let me know if anything is unclear, or if you see good reasons why your government shouldn't immediately act on this. 🌊
youtu.be/ULJXqOZuY-8
Hear the latest science as I presented it last month at the ATLAS25 event in Helsinki.
Let me know if anything is unclear, or if you see good reasons why your government shouldn't immediately act on this. 🌊
youtu.be/ULJXqOZuY-8
Is the Atlantic Ocean circulation close to tipping?
YouTube video by Earth System Analysis - Potsdam Institute
youtu.be
November 16, 2025 at 7:56 PM
“Even for an intermediate emissions scenario [which is our current emissions pathway] the probability of AMOC shutdown is way above 50%”
(AMOC shut-down means Europe and parts of South-East Asia become uninhabitable, by the way.)
1/4
(AMOC shut-down means Europe and parts of South-East Asia become uninhabitable, by the way.)
1/4
“As the planet warms, so much ice has been erased from around Mount Everest that the elevation at base camp in Nepal, which sits on a melting glacier, has dropped more than 220 feet since the 1980s.” www.nytimes.com/interactive/...
Melting Glaciers in the Himalayas Feed Lakes That Threaten Towns Below
Melting ice from the Himalayas is creating thousands of unstable lakes, a growing menace to towns and cities below.
www.nytimes.com
November 14, 2025 at 2:07 PM
“As the planet warms, so much ice has been erased from around Mount Everest that the elevation at base camp in Nepal, which sits on a melting glacier, has dropped more than 220 feet since the 1980s.” www.nytimes.com/interactive/...
Reposted by David Wallace-Wells
With current pledges, the world's on track for 2.6°C of warming in 2100 compared to preindustrial levels.
10 years ago, before the Paris agreement, it was 3.6°C
20+ years ago, we thought it would be 4-5°C
So 2.6°C is better, but the problem is that climate impacts are way worse than we predicted.
10 years ago, before the Paris agreement, it was 3.6°C
20+ years ago, we thought it would be 4-5°C
So 2.6°C is better, but the problem is that climate impacts are way worse than we predicted.
World still on track for catastrophic 2.6C temperature rise, report finds
Fossil fuel emissions have hit a record high while many nations have done too little to avert deadly global heating
www.theguardian.com
November 13, 2025 at 12:55 PM
With current pledges, the world's on track for 2.6°C of warming in 2100 compared to preindustrial levels.
10 years ago, before the Paris agreement, it was 3.6°C
20+ years ago, we thought it would be 4-5°C
So 2.6°C is better, but the problem is that climate impacts are way worse than we predicted.
10 years ago, before the Paris agreement, it was 3.6°C
20+ years ago, we thought it would be 4-5°C
So 2.6°C is better, but the problem is that climate impacts are way worse than we predicted.
One of humanity’s most ubiquitous infectious pathogens, the Epstein-Barr virus, which 19 of 20 people carry, bears the blame for the chronic autoimmune condition called systemic lupus erythematosus or, colloquially, lupus.
med.stanford.edu/news/all-new...
med.stanford.edu/news/all-new...
Stanford Medicine scientists tie lupus to a virus nearly all of us carry
The Epstein-Barr virus can convert B cells it’s infected into diabolical overlords that reprogram myriad other immune cells to attack our tissues, Stanford Medicine scientists have found.
med.stanford.edu
November 13, 2025 at 12:11 PM
One of humanity’s most ubiquitous infectious pathogens, the Epstein-Barr virus, which 19 of 20 people carry, bears the blame for the chronic autoimmune condition called systemic lupus erythematosus or, colloquially, lupus.
med.stanford.edu/news/all-new...
med.stanford.edu/news/all-new...
“Between 1989 and 2022, households in the top 1 percent added about 100 times as much wealth as households at the national median. The share of all U.S. wealth held by the top 0.00001 percent has nearly doubled over the last decade.” www.nytimes.com/2025/11/12/o...
Opinion | The Haves and Have-Nots Are, Once Again, at War
www.nytimes.com
November 12, 2025 at 10:43 PM
“Between 1989 and 2022, households in the top 1 percent added about 100 times as much wealth as households at the national median. The share of all U.S. wealth held by the top 0.00001 percent has nearly doubled over the last decade.” www.nytimes.com/2025/11/12/o...
“Climate-related disasters forcibly displaced 250 million people globally over the past decade, the equivalent of 70,000 displacements every day, according to a report by the UN refugee agency.” www.theguardian.com/environment/...
Climate disasters displaced 250 million people in past 10 years, UN report finds
Floods, storms and droughts have uprooted people across the globe as rising temperatures intensify conflict and hunger
www.theguardian.com
November 11, 2025 at 9:01 PM
“Climate-related disasters forcibly displaced 250 million people globally over the past decade, the equivalent of 70,000 displacements every day, according to a report by the UN refugee agency.” www.theguardian.com/environment/...
Reposted by David Wallace-Wells
“The elites are ecstatic about imagining a vast, uneducated, and unproductive population forced to pay companies like OpenAI to access the written word and to approximate thought.”
Must read piece by Noah McCormack with too many quotaboe lines to select one! thebaffler.com/salvos/we-us...
Must read piece by Noah McCormack with too many quotaboe lines to select one! thebaffler.com/salvos/we-us...
We Used to Read Things in This Country | Noah McCormack
Technology changes us—and it is currently changing us for the worse.
thebaffler.com
November 2, 2025 at 5:12 PM
“The elites are ecstatic about imagining a vast, uneducated, and unproductive population forced to pay companies like OpenAI to access the written word and to approximate thought.”
Must read piece by Noah McCormack with too many quotaboe lines to select one! thebaffler.com/salvos/we-us...
Must read piece by Noah McCormack with too many quotaboe lines to select one! thebaffler.com/salvos/we-us...
November 10, 2025 at 4:05 PM
Reposted by David Wallace-Wells
A fantastic piece. Fascinating that Watson was another victim of The Bell Curve and became entrenched by his undeserved arrogance and hubris
A Sharon Begley byline, almost 5 years after her death.
Upon hearing the news James Watson had died, a STAT reporter said in our Slack, "I wish I could read what Sharon would have written."
Incredible news: Sharon in fact did pre-write a Watson obit. And it is masterful and excoriating.
🧪🧬🧫
Upon hearing the news James Watson had died, a STAT reporter said in our Slack, "I wish I could read what Sharon would have written."
Incredible news: Sharon in fact did pre-write a Watson obit. And it is masterful and excoriating.
🧪🧬🧫
James Watson, dead at 97, was a scientific legend and a pariah among his peers
James Watson, the co-discoverer of the structure of DNA who died Thursday at 97, was a scientific legend and a pariah among his peers.
www.statnews.com
November 8, 2025 at 10:27 PM
A fantastic piece. Fascinating that Watson was another victim of The Bell Curve and became entrenched by his undeserved arrogance and hubris
Reposted by David Wallace-Wells
I read The Double Helix as an undergraduate. I was a science major at a women’s college taking molecular biology. Our professor taught us that Watson & Crick screwed Rosalind Franklin over.
So I read the book to learn more. I’ll never forget how reading this passage made me feel.
So I read the book to learn more. I’ll never forget how reading this passage made me feel.
![“By choice [Rosalind Franklin] did not emphasize her feminine qualities.. There was never lipstick to contrast with her straight black her, while at the age of thirty-one her dresses showed all the imagination of English blue-stocking adolescents. So it was quite easy to imagine her the product of an unsatisfied mother who unduly stressed the desirability of professional careers that could save bright girls from marriages to dull men.. Clearly Rosy had to go or be put in her place. The former was obviously preferable because given her belligerent moods, it would be very difficult for Maurice [Wilkins] to maintain a dominant position that would allow him to think unhindered about DNA.. The thought could not be avoided that the best home for a feminist was another person’s lab”](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:opitzjj6oapo6y3cr5ipwfdu/bafkreibj5i6hdhoinpdbtx5ij7e56lz5v6zg6d6aompkuvrxrdnmkfvj2m@jpeg)
November 8, 2025 at 4:02 PM
I read The Double Helix as an undergraduate. I was a science major at a women’s college taking molecular biology. Our professor taught us that Watson & Crick screwed Rosalind Franklin over.
So I read the book to learn more. I’ll never forget how reading this passage made me feel.
So I read the book to learn more. I’ll never forget how reading this passage made me feel.
Reposted by David Wallace-Wells
If I'm doing the math correctly, Musk's big pay packet yesterday could have made each of these now-dead people millionaires instead.
He is among the sickest men the world has ever produced.
He is among the sickest men the world has ever produced.
One analytical model shows that, as of November 5th, the dismantling of U.S.A.I.D. has already caused the deaths of 600,000 people, two-thirds of them children. https://newyorkermag.visitlink.me/jUzNSc
The Shutdown of U.S.A.I.D. Has Already Killed Hundreds of Thousands
The short documentary “Rovina’s Choice” tells the story of what goes when aid goes.
newyorkermag.visitlink.me
November 7, 2025 at 2:52 PM
If I'm doing the math correctly, Musk's big pay packet yesterday could have made each of these now-dead people millionaires instead.
He is among the sickest men the world has ever produced.
He is among the sickest men the world has ever produced.
“People perceive climate change as more impactful when shown binary data rather than continuous data, because binary data creates an illusion of sudden change.”
Honored and excited to share that I am the winner of Nomis & Science Young Explorer Award!!
Also thrilled to share that my article describing my research is out now in @science.org today!
The normalization of (almost) everything www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
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Also thrilled to share that my article describing my research is out now in @science.org today!
The normalization of (almost) everything www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
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The normalization of (almost) everything: Our minds can get used to anything, and even crises start feeling normal
Our minds can get used to anything, and even crises start feeling normal
www.science.org
November 6, 2025 at 10:46 PM
“People perceive climate change as more impactful when shown binary data rather than continuous data, because binary data creates an illusion of sudden change.”
“‘More people could have died in the past week in El Fasher, and this is without hyperbole, than died in the past two years in Gaza,’ says Nathaniel Raymond, Executive Director at Yale’s Humanitarian Research Lab.” open.substack.com/pub/zeteo/p/...
Sudan's Death Toll Could Exceed Gaza’s. Here’s Everything You Need to Know
Two experts on Sudan explain how the killing in El Fasher is worse than anyone knows.
open.substack.com
November 6, 2025 at 10:40 PM
“‘More people could have died in the past week in El Fasher, and this is without hyperbole, than died in the past two years in Gaza,’ says Nathaniel Raymond, Executive Director at Yale’s Humanitarian Research Lab.” open.substack.com/pub/zeteo/p/...
According to this (extremely informed) projection, Zohran Mamdani will win more votes than any mayoral candidate in New York since 1969.
NEW: I predicted the results of the New York City mayoral election BLOCK by BLOCK.
🚨Spoiler Alert🚨 Zohran Mamdani is going to win
2,000,000+ Votes, 120,000+ Blocks, 350 Neighborhoods, 5 Boroughs, 3 Candidates
ONLY 1 PREDICTION:
www.michaellange.nyc/p/predicting...
🚨Spoiler Alert🚨 Zohran Mamdani is going to win
2,000,000+ Votes, 120,000+ Blocks, 350 Neighborhoods, 5 Boroughs, 3 Candidates
ONLY 1 PREDICTION:
www.michaellange.nyc/p/predicting...
Predicting Every Block of the 2025 NYC Mayoral Election
Spoiler Alert: Zohran Mamdani is going to win
www.michaellange.nyc
November 3, 2025 at 8:14 PM
According to this (extremely informed) projection, Zohran Mamdani will win more votes than any mayoral candidate in New York since 1969.