Europe, like much of America, has been burning up with record heat waves this summer. But not many Europeans have home air conditioning and nor do many businesses. If you go into a restaurant when the temperature is 90 degrees outside, the chances are that it will be 90 degrees inside, or maybe a bit hotter. On the whole, Europeans are stoical about this, as the Greek Stoics no doubt were two thousand years ago. But this year’s heat has been exceptionally harsh, especially for the British, whose whole culture is built around chill winds and cold rain.
We spent many summers in the south of France and, my goodness, it could be hot. One summer we decided to stop being stoical and have some kind of minimal air conditioning installed. It was what is called a heat exchanger, which works on mysterious principles but does in fact work. The local plumber, Pascal, installed it, obviously disapproving of the extravagance, and while it didn’t produce the full icy blast of American-style air conditioning, it did make the indoor temperature more comfortable. It also produced large electricity bills, and a certain amount of guilt.
There are many things driving the planet towards climate catastrophe, and air conditioning may be one of them.
The modern vogue for A/C began in the 1920s. As you might guess, it started in Texas, which rivals California as the world capital of unreality. Once Texans admitted that real men don’t have to sweat, the nation followed. By the 1960s, air conditioning was everywhere, even in places like Maine and Alaska, where the alert homeowner has to stand poised over the switch, waiting for those few moments of warmth that come and go every August. But Texas continues to be in the lead. Houston is reputed to be the most air-conditioned city in the world. In such places, ordinary fresh air is regarded with about as much enthusiasm as poison gas. For several months of the year, citizens live in an artificial bubble, very much like space colonists in old science fiction stories, aliens on their own planet. Not long ago I overheard two young women loudly discussing their exercise regimes. They vehemently agreed that they could never exercise outside “in the air” but only in the air-conditioned gym.
Before the magic cooling machine came along, everyone carried on their lives through the summer by making a few adjustments to the heat. Business hours were shorter and vacations were longer, as were afternoon naps. Congress adjourned during the hot months to the great relief of everyone, and people spent more time outdoors, often sitting on their stoops until late at night, chatting to their neighbors. Now a suburban street on an August evening looks more like a city of the dead, with tightly closed houses and nothing to be heard but the whine of air conditioners.
Our ancestors lived and farmed and fished through the summers for thousands of years without air conditioning. Great empires were gained and lost without air conditioning. Capitalism, factories, railroads, and even democracy were built without air conditioning. Just about all the most important works of art and science and philosophy in the world were created by people who had no air conditioning. We have strong historical evidence that a bit of sweat never did anybody any harm.
And have you ever wondered where that heat goes? It doesn’t just vanish. All those trillions of degrees of heat that used to be absorbed into the gasping human body are now pumped out into the atmosphere, heating it up still further, and forcing us to get yet more air conditioning. It’s a no-win situation. If they want an explanation of the warming planet, climate scientists should consider that, even if the very idea makes them sweat.
