Heat Wave: A Social Autopsy of Disaster in Chicago
- ISBN-10
- 022627621X
- ISBN-13
- 9780226276212
- Series
- Heat Wave
- Category
- Nature
- Pages
- 328
- Language
- English
- Published
- 2015-05-06
- Publisher
- University of Chicago Press
- Author
- Eric Klinenberg
Description
On Thursday, July 13, 1995, Chicagoans awoke to a blistering day in which the temperature would reach 106 degrees. The heat index, which measures how the temperature actually feels on the body, would hit 126 degrees by the time the day was over. Meteorologists had been warning residents about a two-day heat wave, but these temperatures did not end that soon. When the heat wave broke a week later, city streets had buckled; the records for electrical use were shattered; and power grids had failed, leaving residents without electricity for up to two days. And by July 20, over seven hundred people had perished-more than twice the number that died in the Chicago Fire of 1871, twenty times the number of those struck by Hurricane Andrew in 1992—in the great Chicago heat wave, one of the deadliest in American history. Heat waves in the United States kill more people during a typical year than all other natural disasters combined. Until now, no one could explain either the overwhelming number or the heartbreaking manner of the deaths resulting from the 1995 Chicago heat wave. Meteorologists and medical scientists have been unable to account for the scale of the trauma, and political officials have puzzled over the sources of the city's vulnerability. In Heat Wave, Eric Klinenberg takes us inside the anatomy of the metropolis to conduct what he calls a "social autopsy," examining the social, political, and institutional organs of the city that made this urban disaster so much worse than it ought to have been. Starting with the question of why so many people died at home alone, Klinenberg investigates why some neighborhoods experienced greater mortality than others, how the city government responded to the crisis, and how journalists, scientists, and public officials reported on and explained these events. Through a combination of years of fieldwork, extensive interviews, and archival research, Klinenberg uncovers how a number of surprising and unsettling forms of social breakdown—including the literal and social isolation of seniors, the institutional abandonment of poor neighborhoods, and the retrenchment of public assistance programs—contributed to the high fatality rates. The human catastrophe, he argues, cannot simply be blamed on the failures of any particular individuals or organizations. For when hundreds of people die behind locked doors and sealed windows, out of contact with friends, family, community groups, and public agencies, everyone is implicated in their demise. As Klinenberg demonstrates in this incisive and gripping account of the contemporary urban condition, the widening cracks in the social foundations of American cities that the 1995 Chicago heat wave made visible have by no means subsided as the temperatures returned to normal. The forces that affected Chicago so disastrously remain in play in America's cities, and we ignore them at our peril. For the Second Edition Klinenberg has added a new Preface showing how climate change has made extreme weather events in urban centers a major challenge for cities and nations across our planet, one that will require commitment to climate-proofing changes to infrastructure rather than just relief responses.
Get the book
Other editions
Similar books
-
Heat Wave
By Richard CastleNYPD detective Nikki Heat must deal with the continual presence of magazine journalist Jameson Rook as she works to solve the murder of a real estate magnate.
-
Heat Wave
By Eileen SpinelliA cast of quirky characters and lots of playful details from two celebrated picture-book talents make this heat wave look like fun!
-
Hammered by a Heat Wave!
By Laura DeLalloIn July 1995, a scorching heat wave blasted Chicago with temperatures as high as 106° F (41° C) for five days straight.
-
Heat Wave
By Richard CastleThe New York Times bestseller, HEAT WAVE, is a tie-in to the ABC primetime show, CASTLE, that premiered in March 2009. The main character of the show, Richard Castle, is a bestselling mystery writer.
-
Heat Wave
By Nancy ThayerIncludes excerpt from "Summer Breeze"( p. [297]-319).
-
Heat Wave
By Catherine ChambersThis book looks at extremes of hot weather. You will find out where and how temperatures can soar to extreme levels and the impact that heat waves have on people around the world. How do people cope with intense heat?
-
Heat Wave!
By Helen KettemanIn this delightful tall tale, illustrated by Scott Goto ("Shooting Star, Shoeshine Whittaker"), a young girl saves the day (and the farm) using her own ingenuity, every crow in Kansas, and a packet of lettuce seeds.
-
What Is a Heat Wave?
By Robin Johnson"This informative book shows young readers how and why long periods of hot weather occur, where and when heat waves happen most often, and how extreme heat can be dangerous to people and animals.
-
Drought and Heat Wave Alert!
By Paul Clarence Challen, Paul ChallenFeatures the science behind these destructive natural disasters and tells how societies around the world cope with disruptions to the water cycle and the effects of high temperatures on the human body.
-
Heat Wave: A Novel
By Jill Marie LandisFrom the Hardcover edition.