Untitled Flashcards Set

SocGen5 – Midterm #2 Review/Office Hours – March 11th
Key Terms from Lectures:
• Thermal-inequality: unequal distribution of the negative effects of heat
• Climate: what we expect (long term weather patterns in a region)
• Weather: what we experience
• Dry-bulb temperature: ambient air temperature
• Relative humidity: ratio of how much water vapor is in the air to how much
would be required to fully saturate the air
• Wet-bulb temperature: combines air temperature + relative humidity in the sun
• Heat index: combines air temperature + relative humidity in shaded areas; “feels
like” temperature; based on how the “average body” responds to heat
• Wet-bulb globe temperature: includes temperature, humidity, wind speed,
angle of the sun and cloud cover; includes “solar factor”; assumes outdoor
activity; developed by military to minimize heat related deaths; see slides 34 & 35
of lecture 1
• Thermoregulation: process to keep body’s temp within limits regardless of
external conditions
• Homeostasis: stability maintained by an organism for optimal functioning
• Heat stress: total heat load body has to manage to maintain homeostasis
• Heat strain: physiological response caused by heat stress
• Heat tolerance: capacity to tolerate heat stress without physiological and work
failures; a limit
• Heat exhaustion: extreme fatigue caused by reaching the limit of thermal
tolerance
• Heat stroke: derangement of central nervous system (delirium, convulsions,
coma)
• Heat acclimatization: semi permanent adaptations to heat
• Thermoplasticity: capacity of the thermoregulation system to adjust
• Colonialism: Non-democratic governance of a people and a territory by an
external power; based on interests of colonizing country;
racial/biological/intellectual superiority
• Urban Heat Island: relative warmth of a city compared to its surrounding non-
urban/rural area; measured in terms of air temperature difference
• Klinenberg’s social autopsy: focused on social causes of death vs biological or
climatological
• Structural violence: historical marginalization of communities of color;
increased poverty of black communities
• Redlining: determining that certain areas are too risk for investment
• Microclimate: properties of a location shape its climate
• Climate adaptation vs mitigation: adjusting to the current or future climate vs
limiting climate change

• Albedo: “whiteness”; measure of surface reflectivity
• Problem of moral hazard: sidesteps causes of climate change
Questions from Lectures:
• Why study heat? A good body for understanding the challenges and of
addressing complex problems (like antibiotic resistance); the frequency, intensity,
and duration of heat waves and heat wave season have been increasing globally
• What are the effects of extreme heat? Discomfort, illness, injury, cognitive
decline, death, crop damage, property damage, livestock death, infrastructural
damage, medication waste, productivity loss, increased wildfires, increased
power use, power outages, exacerbates the ffects of drought
• What kind of problem is heat? Multi-sited, multi-scalar, multi-disciplinary
• Why does the Biology of Heat matter? As temp rises, more deaths, injuries
and illness caused by heat; focus in public health and medicine taking climate
change seriously as a cause of death
• How does the body accumulate heat? Metabolic heat production &
environmental heat absorption
• How does the body get rid of heat? Conduction (transfer of heat between
contiguous surfaces), convection (transfer of heat across a liquid or gas),
radiation (transfer of heat between noncontiguous surfaces), and evaporation
(transfer of heat via evaporation of water; sweating)
• What happens when the body can’t get rid of excess heat? Heat exhaustion
and heat stroke
• Who is most vulnerable to heat (& why)? Outdoor workers, athletes, babies,
young children, elderly, pregnant, those with preexisting conditions, those without
access to AC, poor mobility, isolated, who take meds; increased exposure to
heat, decreased capacity for thermoregulation
• How might our responses to extreme heat shape our vulnerability to future
disease outbreaks? Indoor crowding (people rely on AC, limited spaces with
poor ventilation), disruption to food and water supply, infrastructure failure leads
to sanitation issues
• How might the problem of antibiotic resistance and the problem of extreme
heat be connected? Extreme heat weakens the immune system, heat-induced
spread of bacteria, disruption to waste and water treatment, increased use of
pharmaceuticals
• Why does the history of heat matter? Concepts from the past shape our
present moment; shows us how discriminatory ideas are embedded in modern
heat-science; shows us how climate concerns are intertwined with history (i.e.
colonialism)
• How did race-based climatic thinking finally end (did it end)? Fewer deaths
in WWII, decline of social Darwinism, end of colonialism across Africa and Asia
• What contributes to the UHI? Urban morphology, anthropogenic heating,
material properties, greenery

• What are the limits of the UHI concept? Some rural areas are hotter than
nearby cities, “similar” cities with “different” surroundings, costal vs inland makes
“similar” cities different, some cities with low UHI still have low thermal comfort
• Complicating examples that question is structural violence obvious? 1)
Paris Heat Wave of 2003: unhoused folks did better than those living on the top
floors; 2) Chicago Heat Wave of 1995: Latinx and Black communities had
different outcomes
• What are some consequences of redlining? Difficult to get mortgages, loans,
credit; less home ownership; more segregation
• What is the legacy of redlining? Less Black generational wealth; disparities in
access to healthcare, healthy food; pollution; fewer trees, parks
• Why does shade matter? Public good, pleasure, public health issue,
infrastructure, unevenly distributed
• Why is shade outlawed and in what ways? Wide streets, parking lanes, need
clearance for wheelchairs, blocking driveways, utilities, sidewalk destruction,
police surveillance, aesthetics
• What are the consequences of air conditioning? Energy consumption, climate
change, UHI; BUT protects against effects of extreme heat
• How does heat effect student learning & performance? for every 5 school
days hotter than 80F, students on average performed about 1% worse on year-
end standardized test; loss is cumulative
• Why do so many carceral facilities lack AC? Cost, perception of tough on
crime, AC seen as a luxury
• Is air conditioning the only solution to heat-related illness and death
amongst incarcerated populations? Improved ventilation, other cooling
methods, adjusting clothing and bedding, reducing overcrowding
• How do we govern heat? Authority is fragemented
• What do we need to govern heat more effectively? Heat equity, mitigate heat,
manage risk, develop metrics, coordinate initiatives
Key People:
• Louis Sambon: temperature zone is full; critical of idea that Europeans could not
settle in the tropics due to heat; neither race nor climate had much to do with
illness and death in the colonies
• John Gregory: race in places; argued again ideas that dark skin was protective
of the heat and temperature was an obstacle to white settlement; antiracist racist
science: racialized biology – science was motivated by colonialism
• Eric Klinenberg: Established the Chicago Heat Wave of 1995 as a paradigm for
thinking about the differential effects of urban heat; social autopsy

Pair and Share in Groups:
1. Why is heat less like earthquakes and other natural disasters and more like
COVID-19 and other pandemics?
o Less visible, distinct, and episodic
o Less closely tracked and less likely to cause property damage
o More invisible and chronic
o More impactful on health vs property
2. Name two groups or parties you think might be involved in the governing heat
and describe why they would be involved/the role you think they would play?
Would this groups agree or disagree on how to address the problem – why?
o City planning and local government – urban planning and zoning
o Utility providers – meet electricity demands
o Environmental advocacy groups – focus on climate mitigation
o Construction companies – design and build homes
o Public health officials, transportation departments, residents, etc
3. Give two reasons why carceral facilities lack air conditioning and one argument
made against installing it in prisons. Describe 2 alternative solutions to
addressing the heat in carceral facilities?
o Cost, perception of tough on crime, AC seen as a luxury
o Improved ventilation, adjusting clothing and bedding, reduce overcrowding
4. Describe one social and one biological reason why these identities may be more
vulnerable to heat?
o Disabled – limited mobility and access to cooling centers; impaired
thermoregulation due to medical conditions or medication
o Homeless – lack of shelter and access to cooling; higher risk of
dehydration or preexisting conditions
o Children and elderly – dependence of caregivers, limited awareness;
underdeveloped thermoregulation, diminished thirst response, poor
circulation
o Outdoor workers – little control over work hours, work in heat; heat
accumulation and dehydration
o Athletes – intense training, pressure to push themselves, heat exposure;
sweat and dehydration, increased heart rate