This is Fresh Air, I'm Tanya Moosley.

And somewhere in the world right now, you're probably trying to beat the summer heat, or

bracing for it.

And if it feels more miserable than ever before, that's because it is.

The Earth is getting hotter, and turning up the AC to solve it, or hoping it will pass,

is wishful thinking, says writer Jeff Gidell.

In his new book, The Heat Will Kill You First, Jeff Gidell wants us to look at heat, not

as a minor inconvenience, but as an active force that can kill us even before we understand

our lives are at risk.

And no bones about it says Gidell, extreme heat is almost entirely caused by our use of fossil

fuels, from our transportation, heating, and manufacturing, and it's warming the earth

in ways that none of us will be able to escape.

Jeff Gidell is a contributing editor at Rolling Stone, and has covered climate change for

more than a decade.

He's a New York Times bestselling author of seven books, including The Water Will Come,

Rising Seas, Sinking Cities, and the Remaking of the Civilized World.

His latest book The Heat Will Kill You First, Life and Death on a Scourched Planet, is

out now.

Jeff Gidell, welcome back to Fresh Air.

Hi, thank you for having me.

I think the best way for us to get into this topic might be for you to read the first

opening lines of your book.

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