Is it hot enough for you?

I’m about to reveal a new book that could save your life — or at least explain when and why we may all die.

Ever heard of the microbe “Strain 121?” No? I hadn’t either. Turns out it’s able to live in the 212 to 250-degree ocean water from underwater volcanoes.

As you’re probably aware, we Homo sapiens would be thoroughly cooked at those temperatures.

But without heat Earth would be a relatively constant 455 degrees below zero.

Like Goldilocks’ search for the perfect porridge temperature between too hot and too cold, we’ve had — until now — a temperature range that is “just right” for humans.

The mathematical odds of this? Far slimmer that your odds of filling out a perfect NCAA basketball bracket (1 in 120 billion). Especially given our furnace.

The sun is the size of 1.3 million Earths. Its core temperature is 27 million degrees; its surface 10,000 degrees. Every second it sends enough heat 93 million miles, through minus 455-degree space, to equal the heat from three to six Hiroshima-size atomic bombs.

Which brings us to CO2. Without the greenhouse gas levels we used to have our average temperature would be four degrees below zero. It’s the CO2’s global warming that made it “just right.”

But we now have two problems moving us from “just right” to “too hot.”

1. The CO2 that’s already there and difficult to remove without a herculean tree-planting project. And 2. the increasing amounts of CO2 we’re creating from fossil fuels.

We know about skin cancer and heat stroke from too much sun and drinking water to replace sweat. But there is so much we don’t know. The role of humidity and “wet bulb” thermometers. The impact of heat on risk of miscarriage, heart attacks, kidney disease, suicides, gun violence and children’s test scores.

Heat’s impact on how cells function, proteins unfold, molecules move, the heart pumps, and organs respond. That 489,000 people worldwide died from extreme heat in 2019, and 850 million live in areas that had all-time record temperatures in 2022.

We built a world for ourselves filled with unarticulated assumptions. During my lifetime I can’t recall hearing, reading anyone’s speculation about, or plan for dealing with, top temperatures of 130, 140 or 150 degrees — rather than 100 or, worst case, 120 degrees.

We haven’t built homes, office buildings, highways, railroads, or even wardrobes with excessive, ever-increasing heat in mind — and couldn’t afford to replace them all. We don’t have an electric grid that could support every American’s super-powerful air conditioner running day and night, pumping more heat into our urban heat islands.

So, what’s that new book I promised you? It’s a remarkably creative bit of writing blending facts with, not fiction, but true stories of individuals and families, athletic and experienced, whose planned wonderful day outdoors ended in their death from the heat. It’s Jeff Goodell’s “The Heat Will Kill You First,” published last week.

Nicholas Johnson bought his copy at a local bookstore. You can too. Contact: [email protected]

Opinion content represents the viewpoint of the author or The Gazette editorial board. You can join the conversation by submitting a letter to the editor or guest column or by suggesting a topic for an editorial to