Why AC Will Be a Hot Topic at the Olympics

Released on June 20, 1975, “Jaws” was a summer blockbuster. Without air conditioning, crowds would never have gone to movie theaters.

This trailer is a classic:

But there is so much more that AC made possible.

The Impact of Air Conditioning

History

Economist Tim Harford suggests that human productivity peaks at 70 degrees. Consequently, it allowed us to work during the hottest hours of the day and to move to the hotter regions of the world.

With AC, homes no longer needed high ceilings and more windows. People could move to hotter regions of the U.S. (like Florida and the Sun Bloc states) and the world (Singapore and Shanghai). One political commentator even suggests that AC might have gotten Ronald Reagan elected because it shifted conservative retirees’ electoral college votes to the Sunbelt states. It even made it possible for Congress to meet during the summer.

Also, think of industries that need air conditioning. Starting with the heat thrown off by computers and Bitcoin mining, we could say that AC made technology feasible.

The Olympics

Scheduled to start on July 26th, the Paris Olympics hope to be the greenest. If temperatures soar, the athletes were assured that a water-based system would adequately cool their rooms. However, a slew of countries, including the U.S., Great Britain, Australia, and Canada are shipping or bringing portable AC units to Paris.

Since not all delegations can afford the units, some athletes could be sleeping in hot rooms. Officials did say that tests indicated the rooms would be 6 degrees Celsius (11 degrees Fahrenheit) cooler than outside temperatures.

Our Bottom Line: Global Temperatures

This NOAA map says it all. Mostly red, the map displays temperatures that are “warmer than average,” much warmer than average,” and “record warmest.” It reflects our need for air conditioning.

And this graphic displays the irony. Using immense amounts of electricity, our air conditioning boosts the heat that makes it a necessity:

My sources and more: Thanks to The Atlantic for its newest look at AC and this past article. Their discussion added to our past posts, here, here, and here. Then, we returned to NOAA and to AC at the Paris Olympics, here and here.