Posted on 07/23/2015 7:23:22 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
I know, I know … Europeans also believe in the fantasy that they can live in a socialist utopia of sorts and the bill will never come due too. Er, except in Greece, of course.
This “new” outrage, though, is simply the usual Euro “superiority” fantasy. They always have a better/smarter/eco friendlier idea and we New Worlders, well, we’re wasteful, uncouth and unsophisticated barbarians, or something:
Overall, it’s safe to say that Europe thinks America’s love of air-conditioning is actually quite daft. Europeans have wondered about this particular U.S. addiction for a while now: Back in 1992, Cambridge University Prof. Gwyn Prins called America’s love of air-conditioning the country’s “most pervasive and least-noticed epidemic,” according to the Economist. And according to the Environmental Protection Agency, it’s getting worse: American demand for air-conditioning has only increased over the past decades.
The U.S. has been the world’s leader in air-conditioning ever since, and it’s not a leadership Americans should necessarily be proud of. According to Stan Cox, a researcher who has spent years studying indoor climate controlling, the United States consumes more energy for air conditioning than any other country. In many parts of the world, a lack in economic development might be to blame for a widespread absence of air-conditioning at the moment. However, that doesn’t explain why even most Europeans ridicule Americans for their love of cooling and lack of heat tolerance.
Well good for them. Because as we recall back in 2003, their “superiority” worked out so well for them, didn’t it?
At least 35,000 people died as a result of the record heatwave that scorched Europe in August 2003, says an environmental think tank.
[…]
The EPI calculated the huge death toll from the eight western European countries with data available. “Since reports are not yet available for all European countries, the total heat death toll for the continent is likely to be substantially larger,” it says in a statement.
France suffered the worst losses, with 14,802 people dying from causes attributable to the blistering heat. This is “more than 19 times the death toll from the SARS epidemic worldwide”, notes the EPI.
Yes, that’s right, air conditioning can save lives. Lots of lives, apparently.
I’ll bet those 35,000+ might have found air conditioning being available to be lifesaving? We certainly lose a few to heat each year, but I’ll be honest, if I’d lost 35,000+ to heat in a single summer, I wouldn’t be smug enough to bring up America’s affection for air conditioning in a negative way.
But then, we’re talking about Europe, aren’t we? The land of very short memories, it seems.
Euroweenies only use A/C to keep heat wave dead victims cool until they can bury them so they don’t rot, fester, bloat and pop. How civilized... /sarc
Typical of Liberalism to think only of themselves, where they are, their living conditions. It’s the major underlying fault that causes their arrogance, their perception the rest of the World is lower than their noses.
It is irrationalism that leads to the peculiar values and bizarre lifestyle of self-denial,self-sacrifice, asceticism, and poverty-stricken lifestyle.But conservationism, because of things like recycling,in the long run, leads to inconvenience and waste of time and space.
And if global warming should occur in the future,as a result of burning fossil fuels,the only appropriate response would be along the lines of being sure that more and better air conditioners were available,along with the infrastructure to support them.And this requires more capitalism and economic progress, and less government interventionism that destroys industrial civilization.
Hadn’t thought of it that way but you’re right what with their socialized health system ...
Yep, get a bunch of Brits visiting the mouse in the heat of summer and by 11AM they will be offering prayers of supplication to St. Willis of Carrier just like the “stupid” Americans. I’ve seen it firsthand.
CC
You are on to something....ghoulish as it may seem
Well, mad dogs and Englishmen go out in the midday sun.
Mad Dogs & Englishmen
by Noel Coward
In tropical climes
There are certain times
Of day
When all the citizens retire
To take their clothes off and perspire.
It’s one of those rules
That the greatest fools
Obey,
Because the sun is far too sultry
And one must avoid its ultry
Violet ray.
The natives grieve
When the white men leave
Their huts.
Because they’re obviously,
Definitely
Nuts.
Mad Dogs & Englishmen
Go out in the midday sun.
The Japanese don’t care to,
The Chinese wouldn’t dare to,
Hindus and Argentines
Sleep firmly from twelve to one,
But Englishmen
Detest a
Siesta.
In the Philippines
They have lovely screens
To protect you from the glare.
In the Malay states
There are hats like plates
Which the Britishers won’t wear.
At twelve noon
The natives swoon,
And no further work is done,
But mad dogs and Englishmen
Go out in the midday sun!
Such a surprise
For the eastern eyes
To see,
That though the English are effete,
They’re quite impervious to heat.
When the white man rides
Every native hides
In glee.
Because the simple creatures hope he
Will impale his solar topee
On a tree.
It seems such a shame
When the English claim
The Earth,
That they give rise
To such hilarity
And mirth.
Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha,
Hoo, hoo, hoo, hoo, hoo, hoo, hoo, hoo,
He, he, he, he, he, he, he, he,
Hm, hm, hm, hm, hm, hm.
Mad dogs and Englishmen
Go out in the midday sun.
The toughest Burmese bandit
Can never understand it.
In Rangoon
The heat of noon
Is just what the natives shun,
They put their Scotch
Or Rye down
And lie down.
In a jungle town
Where the sun beats down
To the rage of man and beast,
The English garb
Of the English sahib
Merely gets a bit more creased.
In Bangkok
At twleve’o’clock
They foam at the mouth and run,
But mad dogs and Englishmen
Go out in the midday sun.
Mad dogs and Englishmen
Go out in the midday sun.
The smallest Malay rabbit
Deplores this foolish habit.
In Hong Kong
They strike a gong
And fire off a noonday gun
To reprimand
Each inmate
Who’s in late.
In the Mangrove swamps
Where the python romps
There is peace from twelve to two,
Even caribous
Lie around and snooze,
For there’s nothing else to do.
In Bengal,
To move at all
Is seldom if ever done.
But mad dogs and Englishmen
Go out in the midday
Out in the midday
Out in the midday
Out in the midday
Out in the midday
Out in the midday
Out in the midday sun!
Personally, I find air conditioning overused in some areas, particularly the southeast. Everyone keeps their place so cold I need a sweater.
They don’t seem to like bathing, either. Leave them to their unhygienic lives.
Western European weather is moderated by the gulf stream. Our west coast, Calf., Oregon and Washington have great weather and a/c isn’t needed as much as it is in the rest of the country. It’s a matter of geography and climate patterns...and the cost of electricity.
Europeans for the most part don’t live in a continental climate in which summer highs top out above 100 (38 C for the Europeans) for days on end. Are we to suppose folks from the equatorial regions are puzzled by the “addiction” of Europeans to central heating, too?
My friend who grew up in Moscow said one of the most striking differences is the smells in public. No a/c or deodorant in Russia meant that BO was strong everywhere. Here, it’s pleasant smelling all summer long-even in farm country ;-).
In Europe, the mid-80s is considered a “heat wave”.
And of bath water.
Europe would be considerably colder if it weren’t for the Gulf Stream dumping warm water on their shores. Also Europe is a much smaller continent with oceans closer to its center than North America. It results in warmer winters and cooler summers.
Water is important. Even here in Michigan our winters are warmer than South Dakota at the same latitude. (At least till the lakes freeze over and it gets really cold in January and February)
I’m a certified expert in HVAC design so I’ll comment:
The summer design conditions for *most* of the USA versus the Mediterranean climate of Europe are like night and day.
The closest comparable climate we have to Europe is coastal California. And YES, A/C use there is VERY low.
SO STFU and get off your high horses Euroweenies...
Actually, there’s a reasonably sound argument for the modern form of monarchy. The monarch provides a focus for the affections of the populace so that the selection of a president or prime minister can be done not as a popularity contest, but on the basis of the policy platform. If we had a nominal monarch for everyone to love, the popularity contest of our Presidential politics would be much diminished.
The August congressional recess began in the pre-air conditioning era because DC was so hot, humid, and buggy, it was unbearable.
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