Heat, a History

Lessons from the Middle East for a Warming Planet
1. Auflage 2024
ISBN: 978-0-520-40392-5
Verlag: University of California Press

Buch, Englisch, 328 Seiten, Trade Paperback, Format (B × H): 151 mm x 225 mm, Gewicht: 466 g

Shifts the conversation from abstract “global warming” to the deeply human impacts of heat—and how our efforts to keep cool have made the problem worse.
 
Despite the flames of record-breaking temperatures licking at our feet, most people fail to fully grasp the gravity of environmental overheating. What acquired habits and conveniences allow us to turn a blind eye with an air of detachment? Using examples from the hottest places on earth, Heat, a History shows how scientific methods of accounting for heat and modern forms of acclimatization have desensitized us to climate change.
 
Ubiquitous air conditioning, shifts in urban planning, and changes in mobility have served as temporary remedies for escaping the heat in hotspots such as the twentieth-century Middle East. However, all of these measures have ultimately fueled not only greenhouse gas emissions but also a collective myopia regarding the impact of rising temperatures. Identifying the scientific, economic, and cultural forces that have numbed our responses, this book charts a way out of short-term thinking and towards meaningful action.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Barak, On

Fachgebiete

• Geowissenschaften Umweltwissenschaften Umweltschutz, Umwelterhaltung
• Sozialwissenschaften Ethnologie | Volkskunde Volkskunde Historische & Regionale Volkskunde
• Naturwissenschaften Biowissenschaften Biowissenschaften Biowissenschaften, Biologie: Sachbuch, Naturführer
• Geowissenschaften Umweltwissenschaften Klimawandel, Globale Erwärmung
• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Weltgeschichte & Geschichte einzelner Länder und Gebietsräume Weltgeschichte
• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Weltgeschichte & Geschichte einzelner Länder und Gebietsräume Geschichte einzelner Länder Naher & Mittlerer Osten

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Contents

   List of Illustrations 
   Acknowledgments 

   Introduction 
   A Giant Leap from Man 
   From Global Warming to Local Heating 

1. Under the Skin 
   Ottoman Sweat as Heaven on Earth 
   No Sweat 
2. Heat Islands 
   The Building Blocks of a Coastal Thermal Sink 
   Beached: Libidinal Coastmopolitanism 
3. Into the Bubble 
   Gone with the Wind 
   Arctic Comfort in Arabia
4. Internal Combustions 
   From Devout Closeness to Ungodly Congestion 
   From Licit Contact to Sexual Harassment 1
   The Motorscape of Zahma 
   Postscript: Burning Bridges 
   The Bad COP 
   Bubbles Big and Small, Expanding Like Foam 

   Notes 
   Bibliography 
   Index

Über Autor(innen)

On Barak is a social and cultural historian of science and technology and Professor of Middle Eastern and African History at Tel Aviv University. He is author of four previous books, including Powering Empire: How Coal Made the Middle East and Sparked Global Carbonization.