#30: David Pogue, How to Prepare for Climate Change: A Practical Guide to Surviving the Chaos

[kareila]

David Pogue, the well known technical author and pundit, has written a book full of practical advice on how to prepare for the coming decades of extreme weather in the United States, which as someone who lives in tornado country, is largely the sort of advice I was already familiar with. But fully half the chapters are devoted to surviving specific types of climate threats, and I ended up mostly skipping those. And I don't know how many people will be willing to uproot their lives and follow the advice to move north of the 42nd parallel to avoid rising temperatures.

I did appreciate the parts of the book that acknowledged the prevalence of anxiety and depression caused by the inevitability of climate change, and gave examples of opportunities to organize for political and practical action. But I was disappointed to visit the website recommended as a resource for finding therapists for treating climate-motivated mental health issues, only to discover that there were no listings for the entire southeastern US.

The parts of the book I'm most likely to revisit are the ones describing various recommended home improvement projects, especially those involving alternate sources of electrical power during grid outages, which definitely seem to already be happening more frequently.

Comments

[azurelunatic]

Hmm, this sounds like it might be useful! Bookmarking for later.

[kareila]

I did notice that while he remarked on how Southern houses used to be designed to maximize the utility of outdoor breezes for keeping their residents cool, and how that went by the wayside after we all got central air, he doesn't have anything to say about how most of the affordable housing in the northern latitudes has to make do with window AC units; I wonder at what point those will be forced to adapt to rising global temperatures.

[azurelunatic]

Probably not soon enough, sigh.

Arizona has, IIRC, a very nice law about housing needing to have cooling available during the summer, by which they mean after a certain number of days exceeding a threshold temperature.

[kareila]

Which is happening sooner every year, I'm sure. I think I remember reading that Phoenix in particular already had highs that regularly got above 120F in the summer.

My sister is in Minneapolis and her child's school was closed this week due to their current heat wave (high of 99F today).

[azurelunatic]

I sent a message to my state congress people about that axis of futureproofing; I hope that'll do some good.

[kareila]

💙