What is heat? Measuring heat and mapping heat stress – an anthropological account.
What is heat? Measuring heat and mapping heat stress – an anthropological account.
Deakin Anthropology Seminar Series - Dr Catherine Trundle: "What is heat? Measuring heat and mapping heat stress – an anthropological account." ABSTRACT In a warming world our ability to understand, categorise and identify patterns of heat becomes more pressing. But what is heat, and how are the thresholds between healthy and comfortable heat, and dangerous, uncomfortable heat constituted? In this talk I’ll explore the metrics used globally, nationally, and locally to determine heat stress and the risks heat poses to human health. Heat, I will argue, emerges as a variegated object—and one of increasing political and social attention—through a wide range of epistemic practices. These range from the IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) metrics for communicating certainty in climate science, to the WBGT (wet-bulb globe temperature) index, from hospital admission statistics in the Northern Territory, to global thermal comfort metrics. They include the Victorian heatwave warning system, WorkSafe Victoria workplace protocols, the thermal imaging of streets in Inner Melbourne, and maps of canopy scarcity in Melbourne’s western suburbs. Heat, I will argue, is becoming both more certain and more knowable. At the same time, these diverse metrics open and foreclose opportunities to understand the social and political causes of […]
