Losing Our Cool - by Stan Cox (Paperback)

About the Book

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 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. It has also enabled an irrational commuter economy, triggered a migration toward the American South and West, and created the kind of workplace in which employers wear sweaters in July. But, as Cox shows us, by combining traditional cooling methods with newer technologies, we can make ourselves comfortable "and" keep the planet comfortable as well.

Book Synopsis

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 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. It has also enabled an irrational commuter economy, triggered a migration toward the American South and West, and created the kind of workplace in which employers wear sweaters in July. But, as Cox shows us, by combining traditional cooling methods with newer technologies, we can make ourselves comfortable and keep the planet comfortable as well.

Review Quotes

"This is an important book. The history of air-conditioning is really the history of the world's energy and climate crises, and by narrowing the focus Stan Cox makes the big picture comprehensible. He also suggests remedies--which are different from the ones favored by politicians, environmentalists, and appliance manufacturers, not least because they might actually work."
--David Owen, author of Green Metropolis

"As Stan Cox details in his excellent new book, Losing Our Cool, air conditioning has been a major force in shaping western society."
--Bradford Plumer, The National

"This book is the go-to source for a better understanding of the complexity of pumping cold air into a warming climate."
--Maude Barlow

"Important. . . .What I like about Cox's book is that he isn't an eco-nag or moralist."
--Tom Condon, Hartford Courant

"Stan Cox offers both some sobering facts and some interesting strategies for thinking through a big part of our energy dilemma."
--Bill McKibben

"Well-written, thoroughly researched, with a truly global focus, the book offers much for consumers, environmentalists, and policy makers to consider before powering up to cool down."
--Publishers Weekly

About the Author

Stan Cox is a plant breeder at the Land Institute in Salina, Kansas. He has written on environmental issues for newspapers nationwide, including the Washington Post and the Los Angeles Times, as well as for CounterPunch, AlterNet, and many other online publications. He is the author of Sick Planet: Corporate Food and Medicine.