Green Energy Ohio has developed a year-long theme for the 2024 Climate Change Book Club based on the documentary “The Human Element” by James Balog. Some of you may have seen the film at showings hosted by GEO at locations around the state in 2019 and 2020. It is a powerful representation of how human activities alter the basic elements of life: Earth, Air, Water, and Fire. The film is available now on several platforms and I strongly encourage you to watch it.
Following the film’s themes, GEO is planning to feature books on each of the elements over the course of our quarterly Book Club meetings next year.
The first discussion will be held on Thursday, February 1 at 7:00 pm and will examine the element of fire through “The Heat Will Kill You First” by Jeff Goodell. You can find numerous book reviews online and read a review by Michael Benson, GEO Board of Directors member and retired Fire Chief, below.
You will receive a zoom link the week before the event.
The Heat Will Kill You First
Review by Michael Benson
November 21, 2023
Visceral, painful, and practical; these three words describe how I felt reading The Heat Will Kill You First: Life and death on a scorched planet. I retired several years ago after 30 years in the fire service, so I have personally felt deadly heat, and rescued people severely affected by it. What Jeff Goodell describes in this book is real, and it hurts. Heat is a warning sign that climate change is adversely affecting our planet, our ecosystems, and ourselves. As he tells us, we need to take it seriously and adapt.
While his words brought back memories for me, many of us are not aware of the danger heat brings to living things. We need to heed his warning. It seems as if every year for the past few years has been the hottest year on record. One story told in the book is of Lytton, British Columbia, a village which burnt to the ground because of heat on the day in 2021 when it set the record for the hottest day ever in Canada.
Until we make significant reductions in our use of fossil fuels, we will continue to feel the effect higher and longer heat waves have on us and our world. Heat events like Goodell describes will continue to happen, with greater frequency, and at higher temperatures. I recommend reading this book if you want to understand why your gardening schedules need to change, why your summers and winters are not like the ones you grew up with, and why bird migrations and animal habitats are changing.
The threat from heat is real, and we need to recognize it is a warning sign of what is to come. Thanks to Jeff Goodell for telling us this truth; now it is up to us to try to do something about it.