Losing Our Cool

One of the Mother Nature Network’s ten “must-read environmental books” of the year, Losing Our Cool is the first book to examine how indoor climate control is helping send our outdoor climate reeling out of control. With summers growing hotter and energy demand heavier, Stan Cox, author of Losing Our Cool, shows how air-conditioning transforms human experience in surprising ways, by altering our bodies’ sensitivity to heat; our rates of infection, allergy, asthma, and obesity; and even our sex lives.Despite his concern for the planet, Cox says that AC can be life saving and beneficial. But he takes issue with what he calls our “lavish” use of any climate control conveniences. Setting our thermostats a bit higher in summer and a little lower in winter would benefit the environment without affecting anyone’s health, he says.