“The Heat Will Kill You First” – A Book for Our Dangerously Hot Times

“When the heat comes, it ‘s invisible. It doesn’t ben tree branches or blow hair across your face to let you know it’s arrived. The ground doesn’t shake. It just surrounds you and work on you in ways that you can’t anticipate our control. You sweat. Your heart races. You’re thirsty. Your vision blurs. The sun feels like the barrel of a gun pointed at you. Plants look like they’re crying Birds vanish from the sky and take refuge in deep shade. Cars are untouchable. Colours fade The air smells burned. You can imagine fire even before you see it.”                                                            – from the prologue of the book “The Heat Will Kill You First” by Jeff Goodell. 

A Brief Commentary by Niagara At Large reporter/publisher Doug Draper

Posted June 18^th, 2024 on Niagara At Large

On the eve of another summer where we once again face days and possibly weeks of record-breaking extreme heat that endangers property and our lives and all of the other  biodiversity of life that makes our planet survivable, there is a book I encourage as many of you as possible to read.

The title of the book, published this past yearearlier, is “The Heat Will Kill You First – Life and Death on a Scorched Planet” by New York Times award-winning writer Jeff Goodell.

The book chronicles the health risks and death toll that more frequent episodes of extreme heat – driven by climate change and the continue dumping of fossil fuel emissions into the earth’s atmosphere – is taking on people in the United States, Canada and other regions around the world.

Among so many other things, the book  discusses the false security of air-conditioning as an escape from dangerous heat, and makes a stark warning  that cranking up air-conditioners runs the risk of massive brown-outs and black-outs that put lives in even more danger.

He offers examples of how some have succeeded in cooling buildings and urban areas in ways that do not require air-conditioning or any other carbon-emitting technologies.

Most importantly, Goodell makes a strong case for take more action than we are now to achieve the goal of zero emssions of gas, oil and coal-related carbon pollution.

It believe this is a must read-book for all of us and I only wish I had the resources to send a copy to every politician at every level of government across our province and country – assuming enough of them would read it.

• Doug Draper, Niagara At Large

Here is a recent interview that The Washington Post did with Jeff Goodell on the book. Click on the screen immediately below to read it –

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