The Heat Will Kill You First is a well-researched and well-written book, but with a title and a cover that isn't exactly encouraging to readers. (I wonder about the publisher's decision to market "a hell-on-earth" book jacket.)
Jeff Goodell begins the book with graphic details on the heat wave in the summer of 2021 in the Pacific Northwest, and its horrific effects on people, crops, salmon—you name it. (The opening is similar to the beginning of Kim Stanley Robinson’s Ministry for the Future.) Goodell explains the way heat affects human beings and animals both who are ill-equipped to handle rising temperatures.
Other topics include:
- How scientists can now prove which ecological events are caused by climate change and which are not. This matters as future generations can begin to legally hold current fossil fuel corporations responsible for the climate catastrophe (again it sounds like something right out of Kim Stanley Robinson). Interesting to note that heat waves, which much of the world experienced last summer, are considered direct consequences of climate change.
- Destruction of the ocean ecosystems most notably a phenomena known as the Blob, a heat dome the size of Texas that has disrupted the entire Pacific Ocean food chain.
- That you can’t rely on good air conditioning to remedy the problem. (If Phoenix lost power for a day or two in the summer it would result in heat-related deaths in the thousands). Air conditioning is only as good as your electric grid.
As a remedy, Goodell writes:
"There are ways to limit the damage. The most obvious one, which I mentioned earlier: stop burning fossil fuels and move to clean energy alternatives. That may happen in some places faster than you think (at least for electricity generation)." A case in point, I recently returned to my boyhood home in East Central Illinois and Indiana for a visit and was amazed by the number of wind turbines.
Also, Tatiana Schlossberg’s Inconspicuous Consumption: The Environmental Impact You Don’t Know You Have is a valuable book as it explains all the factors that drive our carbon-intensive society (reviewed here). It’s not nearly as stark as the Goodell’s book and it’s good start to understand the ways to reduce fossil fuel consumption with our daily habits.
And by the way, Robinson’s speculative novel Ministry for the Future (review here) has a taint of optimism as well.
The next Destination: Books pop-up will be at the Freedom Farmer’s Market at the Carter Center on Saturday morning November 18th. In the meantime, both books are available at our online store at https://bookshop.org/lists/destination-favorites
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