The Heat Will Kill You First

Irregularity in weather patterns caused by heat is one of the significant non-traditional security threats on the globe in the 21st century that hinders achieving the Sustainable Development Goals. Catastrophic consequences of heat on earth are the topic under focus for Jeff Goodell in his book The Heat Will Kill You First: life and death on a scorched planet. He has been writing on climate and energy issues for fifteen years. This is his sixth publication on such issues that deals with two main aspects: first, heat is an engine of all planetary chaos, and second, he describes the effects of ever-increasing heat in a living body. According to the author, global temperature has increased by 2.2 degrees since the preindustrial era and is on the way to warming by six degrees more by the end of the century.

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He highlights the degree of awareness about the effects of heat and its evolution. His book consists of fourteen chapters, discussing the devastating impacts of climate change. The author delves into the scientific evidence and personal stories and pleads the urgent need for collective action to combat this global crisis. He has expressed his views by narrating stories of different people to prove his point that every one of them died directly or indirectly due to heat and changing weather patterns. Alongside, he has explained that several people whose livelihood depended on agriculture also suffered colossal damages due to abnormal weather patterns.

One of Goodell’s biggest fears is that the world will adapt to heat-related deaths much like it did with COVID. “Covid showed us how many deaths we’re willing to tolerate.” The Heat Will Kill You First is about how people will simply adapt to the chaos and tragedy and accept up to 60,000 deaths every summer. He goes on to explain that “people will forget that we created this climate and that we have control over it.” The author has narrated the story of a family who died of heatstroke while hiking a hill. He goes on to narrate another story of a farmer who died while working in the fields due to extreme heat. (Chap 8). Through the story of Harold Goodman, his wife Harriet, and their four kids, the writer tells about the vicious cycle and says how heat has been the most horrible thing in today’s world.

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The Heat Will Kill You First explicitly describes the anatomy and the evolution of heat in different societies and religions. According to Mr. Goodell, heat has been a significant entity for all times, religions, and societies. The Egyptians used it to smelt metals; Hindus considered it a way to enlightenment, while many religions considered heat a privilege and a mode to punish their wrongdoings. Greeks believed that heat was one of the four elements of which this world is made up of. However, Muslim scientists found a relationship between heat and light. Al-Beruni discovered that heat, basically rays of the sun, reaches the earth from the sun through reflection. Since then, further developments in the field were made by Al-Haytham, German physicist Mr. Fahrenheit, and Swedish astronomer Elsius, including Galileo, who invented the thermometer to measure heat in the early seventeenth century.

In the middle of the book, comprising chapters seven to eleven, the author describes the major causes, fixes responsibilities, and victims describes the victim countries and communities. The Heat Will Kill You First also discusses a valley where he envisions that despite the adverse effects of climate change, suspending orthodox agricultural techniques and adopting modern agricultural techniques can result in favorable agricultural outcomes to what he calls magic.

Jeff Goodell clarifies how the climate issues function. According to him, the rich pollute and the poor suffer. The rich Western industrialized countries are the major contributors to environmental degradation caused by the earth’s temperature, whereas relatively poor and developing countries are the sufferers. due to which Pakistan, being one of the least contributing countries to environmental degradation, is the 5th most affected country in the world. He goes on to explain how heat has been adversely affecting the living bodies, quoting the research of a climatologist at Washington University.

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In the same chapter, he narrates about marine heat waves, how they exist, and how they harm marine life. He describes that “the ocean is the main driver of our climate system,” Gera man climatologist once told Jeff, and he discusses how marine heat waves are also inflicting massive damage on fish, coral reefs, and other marine species.

The main goal of the author behind writing The Heat Will Kill You First is to convince readers to think about heat differently. In understanding the concept of heat in chapter thirteen, the author reflects on the climate view that temperature is a normal entity to the people; they don’t think about the climate crisis. People think temperature simply gets hot and cold over time and repeats; nothing bothers them to think that the earth is getting hotter due to the burning of fossil fuels. He explains how if climate damage is not controlled, it will soon harm the Goldilocks zone of the earth. Goldilocks zone means a habitable zone where life exists.

The Heat Will Kill You First is one of the fabulous collections of research-based. Jeff Goodell on the global issue that is deep and research-based, with opinions in the style of stories. I have found the book a fine piece for researchers, full of knowledge and facts because many of the realities are written in a dramatic form.