We can't adapt fast enough to keep up with the heating planet

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Human adaptation to heat can't keep up with human-caused climate change By Lucas Wittmann Editorial Director, Ideas The Earth is hotter than it's been in some 125,000 years. Canada's boreal forest is aflame, the American Southwest recently experienced an epic heat dome, and global temperature records keep falling. It's clear that humans can't escape the heat that we unleashed on the planet. And it turns out we can't adapt fast enough to the heat either. As bestselling nonfiction writer Jeff Goodell explains in an excerpt from his astonishing new book, The Heat Will Kill You First, humans have adapted remarkably well to heat since our ancestor Lucy first learned to stand up about 3.2 million years ago. She did that, perhaps, in order to stay cool and get away from the heat radiating off the ground. Since then, our bodies have adapted remarkably well to the heat thanks to developing sweat glands to cool our bodies and losing hair to keep from overheating. But now the planet is warming faster than we—and many other living things—can adapt. Some quotes from Goodell's piece that stood out to me and tell the story: "Humans became excellent hot‑weather hunters. They could venture out in the heat of the day when other animals couldn’t, giving them a predatory advantage." "Heat management is a survival tool for all life on Earth, and the strategies to deal with it are as diverse and colorful as the animal kingdom itself." "One recent study projected that over the next 50 years, 1 to 3 billion people will be left outside the climate conditions that gave rise to civilization over the last 6,000 years." READ MORE Share This Story

What Else to Read Signs Earth’s Climate May Have Entered Uncharted Territory By ISABELLA O'MALLEY / AP Dying coral reefs, extreme heat, and wildfire smoke are among the many signals of climate distress. Read More » What Climate Change Has to do With the Looming UPS Union Strike By Aryn Baker / Macon, Ga. Before union contract negotiations collapsed, UPS was prepared to air condition its vehicles, a long-overdue climate adaptation. Read More » Why Disconnecting From Your Phone Is So Good for You—and How to Do It By Angela Haupt Try batching your notifications, hiding social media apps, and setting your screen to grayscale. Read More » Nevada Secures $285M Opioid Settlement With Walgreens, Bringing State Total to Over $1 billion By Associated Press Nevada's agreement with Walgreen's brings the total amount the state has garnered in court from alleged opioid distributers to $1.1 billion. Read More » Why You Should Always Wash New Clothes Before Wearing Them By Markham Heid The chemicals used in manufacturing clothing are potentially bad for your skin. (Originally published in 2019.) Read More »

ONE MORE FROM ELSEWHERE How Cancer Turned Two Tennis Rivals Into Close Friends Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova, two of the greatest tennis players of all time, were intense rivals on the women's tour through the 1970s and 1980s. Writing for the Washington Post, Sally Jenkins tells the story of how the two—practically opposites in  background, temperament, and style of play (and literally in terms of handed-ness)—both developed cancer at the same time, and of the deep friendship that ensued. Read More »

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