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Body Count: How climate change is killing us
Suddenly, when the country caught fire, people realised what the government has not: that climate change is killing us.
But climate deaths didn’t start in 2019. Medical officers have been warning of a health emergency as temperatures rise for years, and for at least a decade Australians have been dying from the plagues of climate change – from heat, flood, disease, smoke. And now, pandemic.
In this detailed, considered, compassionate book, Paddy Manning paints us the big picture. He revisits some headline events which might have faded in our memory – the Brisbane Floods of 2011; Melbourne’s thunderstorm asthma fatalities of 2016 – and brings to our attention less well-publicised killers: the soil-borne diseases that amplify after a flood; the fact that heat itself has killed more people than all other catastrophes put together. In each case, he has interviewed scientists to explore the link to climate change and asks how – indeed, whether – we can better prepare ourselves in the future.
Most importantly, Manning has spoken to survivors and the families of victims, creating a monument to those we have already lost. Donna Rice and her 13-year-old son Jordan. Alison Tenner. The Buchanan family. These are stories of humans at their most vulnerable, and also often at their best. In extremis, people often act to save their loved ones above themselves. As Body Count shows, we are now all in extremis, and it is time to act.
Respected journalist Paddy Manning tells these stories of tragedy and loss, heroism and resilience, in a book that is both monument and warning.
WINNER of the Victorian Premier's Literary Award for Non-Fiction 2021
Longlisted for the 2020 Walkley Book Award
'Body Count puts a human face on the lives impacted by our worsening climate crisis. Most apparent from Body Count is the sense of community throughout the book. These stories of heroism and hope provide a silver lining...' FIVE STARS, Good Reading
'Manning looks to past natural disasters that inform present conditions. His journalistic training allows for nuance; there's space set aside to discuss climate change sceptics and deniers even as his central these is unequivocal: that "as the planet hots up, the mercury's grim harvest will threaten more of us". Dedicated to the loved ones of those who've lost their lives in the stories told within, Body Count is at its heart an urgent and passionate rallying call.' The Saturday Paper
‘A climate emergency tour de force.' Dr Bob Brown
'True stories of heroism and unimaginable loss...Body Count is a brilliant exposition of why we must deal with the climate problem now.' Ross Garnaut
'Climate change kills. … Through the accounts of people who have lost so much, Paddy Manning drives home the deeply personal impact of climate change. Governments continue to ignore the impact on climate change on human health at OUR peril. The future of our planet and our future generations depends on everyone playing their part, today.' Professor Kerryn Phelps
'A stunningly powerful call to political leaders everywhere who hear the warnings of the devastating impacts of climate change on health but fail to act.' Dr Helen Haines, independent member for Indi
‘Moving stories of heroic courage and tragic loss. A pause to reflect on the lives lost and how urgently we need change.’ David Pocock, former Wallabies captai
But climate deaths didn’t start in 2019. Medical officers have been warning of a health emergency as temperatures rise for years, and for at least a decade Australians have been dying from the plagues of climate change – from heat, flood, disease, smoke. And now, pandemic.
In this detailed, considered, compassionate book, Paddy Manning paints us the big picture. He revisits some headline events which might have faded in our memory – the Brisbane Floods of 2011; Melbourne’s thunderstorm asthma fatalities of 2016 – and brings to our attention less well-publicised killers: the soil-borne diseases that amplify after a flood; the fact that heat itself has killed more people than all other catastrophes put together. In each case, he has interviewed scientists to explore the link to climate change and asks how – indeed, whether – we can better prepare ourselves in the future.
Most importantly, Manning has spoken to survivors and the families of victims, creating a monument to those we have already lost. Donna Rice and her 13-year-old son Jordan. Alison Tenner. The Buchanan family. These are stories of humans at their most vulnerable, and also often at their best. In extremis, people often act to save their loved ones above themselves. As Body Count shows, we are now all in extremis, and it is time to act.
Respected journalist Paddy Manning tells these stories of tragedy and loss, heroism and resilience, in a book that is both monument and warning.
WINNER of the Victorian Premier's Literary Award for Non-Fiction 2021
Longlisted for the 2020 Walkley Book Award
'Body Count puts a human face on the lives impacted by our worsening climate crisis. Most apparent from Body Count is the sense of community throughout the book. These stories of heroism and hope provide a silver lining...' FIVE STARS, Good Reading
'Manning looks to past natural disasters that inform present conditions. His journalistic training allows for nuance; there's space set aside to discuss climate change sceptics and deniers even as his central these is unequivocal: that "as the planet hots up, the mercury's grim harvest will threaten more of us". Dedicated to the loved ones of those who've lost their lives in the stories told within, Body Count is at its heart an urgent and passionate rallying call.' The Saturday Paper
‘A climate emergency tour de force.' Dr Bob Brown
'True stories of heroism and unimaginable loss...Body Count is a brilliant exposition of why we must deal with the climate problem now.' Ross Garnaut
'Climate change kills. … Through the accounts of people who have lost so much, Paddy Manning drives home the deeply personal impact of climate change. Governments continue to ignore the impact on climate change on human health at OUR peril. The future of our planet and our future generations depends on everyone playing their part, today.' Professor Kerryn Phelps
'A stunningly powerful call to political leaders everywhere who hear the warnings of the devastating impacts of climate change on health but fail to act.' Dr Helen Haines, independent member for Indi
‘Moving stories of heroic courage and tragic loss. A pause to reflect on the lives lost and how urgently we need change.’ David Pocock, former Wallabies captai
294 pages, Kindle Edition
First published August 5, 2020
12 people are currently reading
154 people want to read
About the author
Paddy Manning
9 books14 followersPaddy Manning is the editor of The Monthly Today, the daily newsletter produced by The Monthly. During almost twenty years in journalism he has worked for Crikey, The Sydney Morning Herald, Australian Financial Review and The Australian, and reported for ABC TV’s Four Corners. A three-time winner in the Citigroup Journalism Awards for Excellence, Manning founded the magazine Ethical Investor.
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
May 7, 2021
Manning hauntingly humanises the climate crisis in this compassionately considered book. The stories of those who've been personally impacted by our changing planet through the loss of a loved one are sobering – although the didactic device of asking their personal opinions on global warming provoked my patience. Supposition over science, after all, is part of the problem.
December 22, 2020
Finished: 22.12.2020
Genre: non-fiction
Rating: C-
#AudioBook
Conclusion:
My Thoughts
Genre: non-fiction
Rating: C-
#AudioBook
Conclusion:
My Thoughts
December 28, 2020
Very early on, Paddy Manning cleverly evokes the nationalist saying “lest we forget” and applies it in an entirely different, contemporary homage to people who have lost their lives to the most pressing crisis of our time: climate change.
Manning draws not entirely new connections between health and climate change, but evokes the medical profession and healthcare risk of climate change to a higher extent than I’ve seen before. He delves into a clear difficulty in convincing climate change deniers that climate change exists, which is that the link between climate change and particular extreme weather events take years to establish due to scientific rigour. It's a greatly nuanced book, at a time when nuance is missing from the debate.
It's also an interesting exploration into the disbelief in climate change among people who live in rural and regional Australia, who are more exposed than most to the unpredictability of weather events and believe in the natural cycles of the planet as a result, but who have suffered the most because of the effects of climate change.
I would've appreciated more incorporation of Indigenous fire management practices and First Nations knowledge, particularly because First Nations Australians are at the forefront of sustainable land and fire management, and because they're especially vulnerable to the impacts of climate change.
Manning draws not entirely new connections between health and climate change, but evokes the medical profession and healthcare risk of climate change to a higher extent than I’ve seen before. He delves into a clear difficulty in convincing climate change deniers that climate change exists, which is that the link between climate change and particular extreme weather events take years to establish due to scientific rigour. It's a greatly nuanced book, at a time when nuance is missing from the debate.
It's also an interesting exploration into the disbelief in climate change among people who live in rural and regional Australia, who are more exposed than most to the unpredictability of weather events and believe in the natural cycles of the planet as a result, but who have suffered the most because of the effects of climate change.
I would've appreciated more incorporation of Indigenous fire management practices and First Nations knowledge, particularly because First Nations Australians are at the forefront of sustainable land and fire management, and because they're especially vulnerable to the impacts of climate change.
April 14, 2021
This is a fantastic book and should be essential reading for all Australians. I really can't understand how people are climate change deniers - there is just so much evidence to support it. This book lays out how it impacts us in such a logical and no nonsense way that was very impressive.
Covering off on deaths relating to fires, heat, flood, disease and breakdown, it uses personal experiences to highlight the link between climate change and the impact on our lives. Definitely a sobering read that makes me want to be and do better.
Covering off on deaths relating to fires, heat, flood, disease and breakdown, it uses personal experiences to highlight the link between climate change and the impact on our lives. Definitely a sobering read that makes me want to be and do better.
May 16, 2021
Asking victims or family of the victims if they think climate change affected or had some influence on the event that affected the victim is not really very scientific and doesn't really prove anything.
Lots of so-and-so said in a paper and then never hear any more about so-and-so.
There's an epilogue that I thought would ties up the book nicely. You would have thought an epilogue would have a summary of the themes? No .. more random facts.
This kind of book needs to be written. Just don't think this one is that well implemented.
Lots of so-and-so said in a paper and then never hear any more about so-and-so.
There's an epilogue that I thought would ties up the book nicely. You would have thought an epilogue would have a summary of the themes? No .. more random facts.
This kind of book needs to be written. Just don't think this one is that well implemented.
April 28, 2021
This book is such an eye-opener! It introduced me to aspects of climate change that I had previously not given a lot of thought to, such as thunderstorm asthma, and viral pandemics. However, it is of course focused predominantly on the fires that have repeatedly ravaged Australia in recent decades, and which are undeniably growing in ferocity every year.
Highly recommend, although be prepared for some uncomfortable truths.
Highly recommend, although be prepared for some uncomfortable truths.
January 14, 2024
This book packed a punch. I had never considered the direct health consequences of climate change and global warming but Paddy Manning laid them all out clearly in this book. It is thoroughly researched and well written. Very readable. Unsettling, but it needs to be. I’m left considering my role in bringing about change, and what I can do now to help protect the planet, and my family. Highly recommend.
March 8, 2024
This was quite disturbing reading. All the different ways climate emergency is already killing us and how it’s likely to get much worse if we don’t take action. He covers all different manifestations of climate emergency- fire flood drought heat waves increase in diseases especially infective diseases from other species. Well written and hopefully will be read by many and lead to action.
February 13, 2023
Blend of real peoples experiences in our climate crisis’s, the climate in media and facts came together to make something all Australian’s should read.
Incredibly interesting and also sobering.
Change is needed.
Incredibly interesting and also sobering.
Change is needed.
December 27, 2020
Incredibly poignant.
Read
August 9, 2021Interesting book but had to DNF towards the end - I listened to the audiobook and didn't love the narrator..!
August 12, 2024
Made me cry three times it was brutal
November 1, 2021
TW: climate themes, death
I feel there is not much I can say about this book apart from the fact that Paddy Manning takes you on a journey. Part research with medical and mental health information, part storytelling from survivors of trauma, including bushfires, floods and disease, he intertwines the data with the raw and painful stories of those on the frontline who have witnessed and experienced the effects of climate change first hand.
He has written so well, that climate change deniers would find it very difficult to pull apart the information that is provided in this book. In saying that, the information contained can be quite harrowing in regards to our own carbon footprint, the increase in natural disasters and the impact that climate change will have on our future life expentancy.
I feel there is not much I can say about this book apart from the fact that Paddy Manning takes you on a journey. Part research with medical and mental health information, part storytelling from survivors of trauma, including bushfires, floods and disease, he intertwines the data with the raw and painful stories of those on the frontline who have witnessed and experienced the effects of climate change first hand.
He has written so well, that climate change deniers would find it very difficult to pull apart the information that is provided in this book. In saying that, the information contained can be quite harrowing in regards to our own carbon footprint, the increase in natural disasters and the impact that climate change will have on our future life expentancy.
January 3, 2022
A haunting but extremely necessary book to read, especially if you live in Australia, want to understand more about climate change, how health is impacted by climate change, or if you have asthma.
The people Manning talks about are real people and hearing their personal stories puts a humanising face to a crisis that is hard to move from the conceptual to the average person. Talks about climate science as well but lacks the jargon-heavy prose that makes it difficult to read some climate books, which makes it very accessible for audience wanting to know more about climate change that do not have a science degree.
The people Manning talks about are real people and hearing their personal stories puts a humanising face to a crisis that is hard to move from the conceptual to the average person. Talks about climate science as well but lacks the jargon-heavy prose that makes it difficult to read some climate books, which makes it very accessible for audience wanting to know more about climate change that do not have a science degree.
December 3, 2020
Body Count is an informative analysis of the health, security and the financial impacts of the changing climate. Manning says 'the threats to our health and wellbeing from global warming will surprise us' (P241). This is an important book to read to understand the consequences of current weather events and 'natural' disasters.
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews