12 Surprising Cool Facts About Air Conditioning
The first modern air conditioner was invented by Willis Carrier in 1902 for a publishing company in Brooklyn. The machine kept temperature and humidity low so that the paper didn’t expand and contract. Carrier never intended for his invention to be used solely for comfort.
Theaters jumped on the air conditioner bandwagon early, even in the midst of the depression. They were among the first places where most people encountered artificially cooled air, and in the hot summer months, movie houses were often the coolest places in town. When the weather got stifling, people cooled off by flocking to see films. Expecting big movie-going crowds, the studios began releasing their best and most lavish productions in the summer, giving birth to the modern summer blockbuster.
Before a/c, most industry traditionally slowed or stopped in the summer, when buildings were hot and workers were slugglish. Back then, many American workers got month-long August vacations similar to what workers still get in Europe, where a/c isn’t popular.
Even the government tended to shut down during parts of the summer. Some historians blame the growth of federal bureaucracy on air conditioning, since it enabled lawmakers to stay in session longer.
Climate control has completely changed the way we design and construct buildings and homes. Gone are the cool brick structures with high ceilings, transoms, breezeways, strategically placed shrubbery and sleeping porches, all of which were designed to keep inhabitants cool. Today’s glass skyscrapers and low-slung tract housing don’t have the same ventilating and heat defeating features, so going without a/c today feels more unbearable than it used to.
The development of effective temperature control temperature control and refrigeration has revolutionized almost every aspect of industry. Without a/c, the following things would be virtually impossible: the manufacture of computers and chipsets; data storage centers; the production, delivery, and storage of food; pharmaceutical manufacturing; the chemical manufacturing.
A/C allowed for exponential advances in medicine human life expectancy. Air conditioned hospitals helped defeat malaria, decrease infant mortality, inhibit bacteria, and advance developments in surgery.
Strangely, a/c did NOT affect education. Summer vacation exists because near the turn of the century, hot, stuffy schools were intolerable, and some advocates worried about the spread of disease in such poor conditions. Yet although air conditioning has made it possible for students to be comfortable year around, the vacation schedule never changed.
Before air conditioning, the Northeast was the economic powerhouse of the United States. Since 1960, 60% of all the economic growth in the country has taken place in the South, where a/c made year-round factory work and apartment living possible. Demographers agree that the populations explosions in places like Arizona, Las Vegas, Florida and Texas can be directly attributed to air conditioning.
Air conditioning conditions us to want more more air conditioning. There’s scientific evidence showing that spending too much time in cool environments erodes humans’ natural tolerance for heat.
Despite much technological advancement, air conditioning units still consume massive amounts of energy; NPR notes that the Department of Defense spends $20 billion per year on air conditioning in Iraq; more than the total yearly budget for NASA.
The amount of energy the United States uses every year to power our air conditioners is about the same amount of energy consumed by the entire continent of Africa.
It’s no exaggeration to say that America owes a huge debt to air conditioning. It’s allowed us to live and work in more relative comfort than at any other time in human history. The next time you go to work, sleep soundly, visit a supermarket, take a pill or even surf the internet in the summer, remember that – for better or for worse – air conditioning made it possible.
Compliments of (http://www.divinecaroline.com)