>>> 20 PAST THE HOUR. A BEAUTIFUL SHOT OF NEW YORK CITY. TROPICAL STORM ALBERTO IS EXPECTED TO MAKE LANDFALL SOON ON MEXICO'S GULF COAST. IT IS THE FIRST NAMED STORM OF WHAT IS EXPECTED TO BE AN INTENSE HURRICANE SEASON. HIGH WINDS AND 10 TO 15 INCHES OF RAIN ARE EXPECTED TODAY ALONG THE SOUTHERN COAST OF TEXAS ALONG WITH FLASH FLOODING. OTHER PARTS OF TEXAS' GULF WEST ARE ALREADY DEALING WITH FLOODING AFTER HEAVY RAINFALL YESTERDAY. IN NEW MEXICO, TWO EXTREMELY DANGEROUS WILDFIRES HAVE CLAIMED THE LIVES OF AT LEAST TWO PEOPLE WHILE FORCING AN ENTIRE TOWN OF MORE THAN 7,000 TO FLEE. OFFICIALS SAY BOTH THE SOUTH FORK AND SALT FIRES WERE ZERO PERCENT CONTAIN. AS OF LATE YESTERDAY, THE FLAMES HAVE DESTROYED MORE THAN 1,400 STRUCTURES AND BURNED 23,000 ACRES. MEANWHILE, MILLIONS OF PEOPLE FROM THE MIDWEST TO THE NORTHEAST WILL FACE EXTREME HEAT FOR A FOURTH STRAIGHT DAY. THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IS PREDICTING RECORD HIGHS AGAIN IN SEVERAL AREAS, AND THE HEAT IS EXPECTED TO LAST INTO THE WEEKEND. METEOROLOGISTS SAY THE DANGEROUS TEMPERATURES ARE THE RESULT OF A HEAT DOME THAT IS COVERING LARGE PORTIONS OF THE COUNTRY. JOINING US NOW "NEW YORK TIMES" BEST SELLING AUTHOR AUTHOR OF "THE HEAT WILL KILL YOU FIRST, LIFE AND DEATH ON A SCORCHED PLANET" WILL BE RELEASED NEXT MONTH. SEEMS LIKE THIS MIGHT BE A TIMELY READ RIGHT NOW, JEFF. WHAT'S GOING ON? >> WELL, WHAT'S GOING ON IS WE'RE LIVING IN THE AGE OF CLIMATE CHAOS, YOU KNOW. WE HAVE KNOWN FOR 100 YEARS THAT BURNING FOSSIL FUELS PUTS MORE CO2 INTO THE ATMOSPHERE. MORE CO2 INTO THE ATMOSPHERE IS CREATING A HOTTER CLIMATE, AND WE'RE SEEING THAT NOW. IT'S NOT ONLY THAT OUR CLIMATE IS GETTING HOTTER. IT'S MAKING THESE KIND OF EXTREME EVENTS THAT YOU WERE TALKING ABOUT THERE FROM THE FLOODING TO THE HEAT WAVES TO THE BIGGER STORMS MORE AND MORE LIKELY, SO THIS IS THE WORLD THAT WE HAVE CREATED FOR OURSELVES AND THAT WE'RE LIVING IN. >> JEFF, IT'S SAM STEIN HERE. YES, THIS IS CLIMATE CHAOS. WE'VE EXPERIENCED A GROWTH OF CLIMATE CHAOS OVER THE PAST COUPLE OF YEARS. I'M WONDERING IF YOU COULD PUT IT IN THE PROPER SCOPE FOR THE READERS. TALK ABOUT JUST THE SHEER COST OF THIS IN BOTH HUMAN LIVES BUT ALSO IN JUST DOLLARS. I MEAN, WE'RE GOING TO BE DEALING WITH MASSIVE GOVERNMENT INVESTMENTS TO TRY TO MITIGATE THESE ISSUES AND LITERALLY MOVE PEOPLE. CAN YOU SPEAK -- I MEAN, IT'S HARD TO ACTUALLY QUANTIFY AND PUT IN PROPER PERSPECTIVE, BUT CAN YOU TRY TO TALK ABOUT JUST HOW MUCH THIS WILL DOMINATE OUR PUBLIC AND PRIVATE LIVES? >> WELL, IT'S GOING TO DOMINATE OUR LIVES IN EVERY WAY, THAT WE'RE JUST BEGINNING TO SEE AND BEGINNING TO IMAGINE. HOW THIS IS -- HOW DO YOU PUT A DOLLAR COST ON THIS IS VERY -- IT'S JUST IMPOSSIBLE BECAUSE OF THE SCOPE AND SCALE OF WHAT WE'RE TALKING ABOUT HERE, YOU KNOW. THERE'S TWO PARTS OF THIS. THERE'S SORT OF THE CLEAN ENERGY PART OF IT, YOU KNOW, WHICH IS REDUCING CO2 EMISSIONS, THE MOVEMENT TO SOLAR AND WIND. I LIVE IN TEXAS. YOU KNOW, THAT'S HAPPENING VERY FAST THERE. TEXAS IS NOT EXACTLY TULL OF TREE HUG EARNINGS AND YET OUR GRID IS OFTEN 60% OR 70% POWERED BY RENEWABLE ENERGY. THAT'S REMARKABLE, AND THE PRICE OF RENEWABLE ENERGY HAS GOTTEN CHEAPER AND CHEAPER. THE PROBLEMATIC SIDE IS ON THE ADAPTATION SIDE, ON THE DAMAGES SIDE. WHEN YOU LOOK AT WHAT IT'S GOING TO TAKE TO SORT OF REIMAGINE OUR CITIES, TO REIMAGINE OUR WORLD, TO REIMAGINE WHERE OUR FOOD COMES FROM IN THE LIGHT OF THESE KINDS OF EXTREME EVENTS, IT'S REALLY A MASSIVE CHANGE THAT WE'RE GOING THROUGH, AND WE CAN GO THROUGH IT INTELLIGENTLY BY BEING EDUCATED ABOUT THIS AND THINKING ABOUT THIS OR TALKING ABOUT THIS OR WE COULD DO THE "MAD MAX" SCENARIO OF DENIAL AND CHAOS WHICH IS A LOT OF AMERICA THE PAST -- SADLY, THE PATH THAT A LOT OF AMERICANS SEEM TO BE CHOOSING RIGHT NOW. >> THERE'S THE HUMAN TOLL, TOO. OFFICIALS IN SAUDI ARABIA ANNOUNCING YESTERDAY THAT HUNDREDS OF PEOPLE, HUNDREDS OF PEOPLE DIED THERE DUE EXTREME HEAT DURING RELIGIOUS PILGRIMAGES. JEFF, YOU TWEETED SOMETHING THAT STRUCK US. YOU SAID OUR WORLD WAS BUILT FOR A CLIMATE THAT NO LONGER EXISTS. TELL US WHAT YOU MEAN. >> I THINK THAT, YOU KNOW, THERE'S A -- THERE'S A MISUNDERSTANDING ABOUT CLIMATE CHANGE AND WHAT'S HAPPENING. I THINK THERE'S A LOT OF PEOPLE WHO THINK THAT CLIMATE CHANGE IS LIKE A BROKEN LEG, THAT, YOU KNOW, WE JUST NEED TO SORT OF DRIVE ELECTRIC CARS AND RECYCLE OUR BOTTLES AND DO THAT FOR A LITTLE WHILE AND THEN EVERYTHING WILL BE OKAY AND WE'LL GO BACK TO THE WORLD THAT WE LIVED IN IN THE EARLY PART OF THE 20th CENTURY. THINGS WILL GO BACK TO NORMAL. THINGS ARE NOT GOING TO GO BACK TO NORMAL. WE ARE MOVING INTO A COMPLETELY DIFFERENT CLIMATE ERA, AND THE IMPLICATIONS FOR THAT ARE PROFOUND. THE WAY THAT OUR CITIES ARE ARRANGED AND BUILT DO NOT WORK IN AN ERA OF EXTREME WARMING. WHERE WE GET OUR WATER SUPPLY DOES NOT WORK IN A WORLD OF EXTREME WARMING. CITIES LIKE MIAMI, THE TEXAS COAST WE'RE SEEING RIGHT NOW, LOTS OF, YOU KNOW, BUILDINGS, HOUSES, REAL ESTATE ALONG THE WATER AS SEA LEVELS RISE AND STORM SURGES GET BIGGER. ALL OF THAT IS IN JEOPARDY. WHERE DO WE GET OUR FOOD AS THE CROP YIELDS GET HIT BY MORE AND MORE PRECIPITATION, MORE AND MORE HEAT. CLIMATE CHANGE IS GOING TO CHANGE EVERYTHING ABOUT HOW WE LIVE AND WHERE WE GET OUR FOOD AND WHERE WE GET OUR ENERGY, AND THAT'S WHY IT'S SO IMPORTANT TO BE EDUCATED ABOUT THIS, BE SMART ABOUT THIS AND MAKE BETTER CHOICES, BECAUSE I REALLY DO THINK THAT WE COULD, YOU KNOW, BUILD A BETTER WORLD AND USE THIS CRISIS AS AN OPPORTUNITY. >> BEST SELLING AUTHOR JEFF GOODELL, THANK YOU VERY MUCH. THE PAPERBACK EDITION OF HIS BOOK "THE HEAT WILL KILL YOU FIRST, LIFE AND DEATH ON
