Today’s episode is all about HEAT, that climate change bummer from which so many other impacts ripple out.
The Earth is hotter now than at any other point in all of human history. From our homes and our jobs, to our policies and culture, how do we adapt?
My guests for grappling with all this are Jainey Bavishi and Jeff Goodell.
Jainey served as deputy head of NOAA under President Biden, and as head of resiliency for NYC under Mayor de Blasio. Perhaps you remember her from Season 2: “The Future of Coastal Cities.”
Jeff is the author of the New York Times bestseller The Heat Will Kill You First: Life and Death on a Scorched Planet. He has also been a climate reported at Rolling Stone for over two decades.
This episode was recorded live at Pioneer Works during Climate Week NYC. It was as part of the Science & Society event series I curate for that incredible cultural institution. If you want to fully absorb the energy of the room:
BONUS CONTENT: A message from Planet Earth 🌎
We love a hilarious cold open and Brad Einstein (with sassy puppet) delivered, letting us know how disappointed the Earth was with humans — the gaslighting of it all! Watch below, and follow him on Instagram for more — maybe start with this ditty about teeny frogs. (You’re welcome.)
CALLS TO ACTION
In Jainey’s words:
The first step is we, as residents of the communities that we live in, as voters, we need to treat this crisis with the urgency that it deserves.
If you work for any level of government, keep innovating, keep investing in adaptation solutions, keep pushing the boundaries at the federal level. We need to support federal workers.
Get to know your neighbors.
Demand climate action. Vote, yes, but demand every politician focus on this emergency. There are solutions before the heat kills us. We’ve gotta find those solutions. We can do this. We literally have to treat it like our lives depend on it because they really do.
Telling the stories of these solutions is the antidote to misinformation. We have to keep showing that these solutions work.
Jeff, after co-signing what Jainey said, added:
I want to give just a big shout out to science, to scientists who under an incredible barrage of political nightmare are being de-funded and discredited. All of these heat strategies depend on science. To the degree that that gets undermined, contorted, hidden, buried, everything else then falls apart.
Podcast Notes:
Follow, rate, review! ✅ Text your favorite episode to your favorite group chat, and discuss!
This podcast is supported by Future Being, a grant making and special project studio, which supports the healing of our planet and the safeguarding of biological and cultural diversity.
Special thanks to the team at Pioneer Works and Wellcome Foundation for hosting this live taping. This episode was produced and edited by Gabby Bulgarelli, and me, Ayana, with help from associate producer Jenisha Shrestha.
Alright Earthlings 🌎, that’s it for now. More from me next week!
Oh, you want more NOW? Okay, sure. Here are some key heat facts for ya ❤️🔥
All this extra heat (trapped by greenhouse gases) is driving increasingly extreme weather — it’s turbo-charging hurricanes, floods, fires, and droughts.
By 2070, one-fifth of the planet could be as scorchingly hot as the (rapidly expanding) Sahara Desert, and up to 3.5 billion people may have to move as their homes become inhospitable.
Extreme heat is a public health threat that leads to school closures, workplace injuries, droughts, famine, mental health crises, and increased domestic violence.
In the U.S., heat stress is the leading cause of weather-related deaths—killing more people than hurricanes, tornadoes, and floods combined.
Those among us with the fewest resources are disproportionately harmed by excess heat — specifically, people of color, low-income people, children, and the elderly.
BUT! Heat-related illnesses and deaths are largely preventable with proper planning, education, and action.
So now you know. Let’s get to it!
