New York

FINALIST—ESSAYS AND CRITICISM

The headline is frightening enough, but it is the section titles that explain with terrifying specificity the future that awaits everyone who lives on this planet: “Heat Death,” “The End of Food,” “Climate Plagues,” “Unbreathable Air,” “Perpetual War, “Permanent Economic Collapse,” “Poisoned Oceans.” Within one day of its publication, “The Uninhabitable Earth” was the most-read article in the history of New York. As the Ellie judges said, “The impact of David Wallace-Wells’s bleak and gripping essay spread beyond climate scientists, journalists, and activists, forcing every reader to confront the existential crisis that threatens us all.” In response to critics of the story, New York also published an annotated version online. David Wallace-Wells is the deputy editor of the magazine. Widely admired for its innovativeness both in print and online, New York celebrated its fiftieth anniversary in 2017.