how air conditioning changed the world - how to make air cooler at home

Imagine we can control the weather.
Press the button to make it warmer, cooler, wetter or drier.
The impact will be enormous.
There are no droughts and floods, no heat waves and icy roads.
The desert will be green.
Crops will never fail.
In fact, climate change has caused some crazy
In order to destroy the climate, such as spraying sulfuric acid to the upper atmosphere, or dumping quicklime into the ocean, some ideas that sound good are put forward.
However, although human beings are smart, we are still far from precisely controlling the weather.
At least outside.
Since the invention of the air conditioner, we have been able to control the weather inside, which has been a bit far away
Achieved and unexpected results.
The 50 highlights of the modern economy are the inventions, ideas and innovations that have created the economic world in which we live.
It was broadcast on BBC World Service.
You can find more information about the source of the program online or subscribe to the program podcast.
Human beings have been able to warm themselves since our ancestors mastered the fire.
Cooling is more challenging when the weather is hot.
The eccentric Roman emperor Elagabulus sent slaves to take the snow down the mountain and pile it up in his garden, and the breeze blew in the cool air inside.
Needless to say, this is not a scalable solution.
At least, it was not until the 19 th century that the Boston entrepreneur, Frederic Tudor, had accumulated a fortune that was unlikely to do something like that.
In winter, he took ice from the frozen New England Lake, insulated it with sawdust, and transported it to a warm place for the winter.
Until artificial ice
The gentle winter of New England began to take off, causing panic about the "ice shortage.
As we know, the air conditioner started in 1902, but it has nothing to do with human comfort.
Sackett & Wilhelms printing in New York is frustrated with different humidity levels when trying color printing.
The same paper must be printed four times in four colors, and if the humidity changes during the printing process, the paper expands or shrinks slightly.
Even the misplacement of a millimeter looks terrible.
The printer asked Buffalo Forge to design a system that controls humidity.
A young engineer named Willis Carrier found that the circulating air on the coil cooled by compressed ammonia maintained a constant 55% humidity.
The printer was very happy.
Buffalo forging soon began selling Willis airlines inventions to flour mills and Gillette, where humidity over the assembly caused razor blades to rust.
These early industrial customers were not concerned about making it easier for their workers to endure temperatures --
This is a side benefit.
But by 1906, Carrier was exploring the potential of "comfortable" applications in public buildings such as theaters.
This is a smart choice.
Historically, theaters are often closed in the summer: without windows, the human body is tightly squeezed together, and lighting is provided by bright bombs before power is turned on.
Ice in New England was once popular.
In the summer of 1880, the Madison Square Theater in New York used 4 tons per day: 8 tons
The foot fan blows the air on the ice and blows it to the audience through a pipe.
Unfortunately, although cool, the air is also humid, and as pollution increases in New England lakes, melting ice can sometimes release unpleasant smells.
The weather instrument of Willis airlines is more practical.
In the fast-growing cinema of the 1920 s, the public experienced air conditioning for the first time, and it soon became the selling point of the film.
The long-lasting Hollywood tradition of summer blockbusters can be traced directly to Kaili, and so can the rise of shopping centers.
But air conditioning is not just a convenience.
It is a transformative technology that has a profound impact on our way of life.
If the computer is too hot or too wet, it will fail, so the air conditioner can power the server farm that is powered by the Internet.
In fact, it is difficult for us to produce silicon chips if the factory cannot control the air quality.
The air conditioner also completely changed the building.
Historically, cool buildings in a hot climate mean thick walls, high ceilings, balconies, courtyards and windows facing the sun.
The popular dog trotting house in the southern United States is covered and opened --
End the corridor and let the breeze through.
Glass before air conditioning-
It's not a wise choice to face skyscrapers: you can bake on the upper floor.
The air conditioner also changed the population structure.
It is hard to imagine the rise of cities like Dubai or Singapore.
In the second half of the 20 th century, with the rapid spread of residential units in the United States, the "sunshine zone" population
Warm south from Florida to California
From 28% of Americans to 40%.
In particular, the movement of retirees from north to south has also changed the political balance in the region.
The author, Steven Johnson, is adamant that the air conditioner was elected Ronald Reagan ).
How the razor completely changed the way we paid for stuffTV dinner: The hidden cost of processed food completely changed the tiny pills, which gave birth to an economic revolution, how the elevator changed the shape of our city. Reagan came to power in 1980 and the United States used more than half of the world's air conditioners.
Since then, emerging economies have quickly caught up: China will soon become a global leader.
Proportion of air-
Eligible families in Chinese cities jumped to more than twice from less than a tenth
Thirty in just 10 years.
In countries such as India, Brazil and Indonesia, the air-conditioning market is expanding at twice the rate. digit rates.
There is more room for growth: 11 of the world's 30 largest cities are located in tropical areas.
The prosperity of air conditioning is good news for many reasons.
Research has shown that it reduces mortality during the heat wave.
Prisoners in prison
The air conditioner pays for itself by reducing fights.
When the temperature of the examination room exceeds 21C or 22C, the student's math test scores begin to decline.
In the office, air conditioning made our work more efficient: according to an early study, air conditioning increased the workload of US government typists by 24%.
Economists have since confirmed the relationship between productivity and staying calm.
William Nordhouse divides the world into cells with latitude and longitude lines, and draws the climate, output and population of everyone.
He found that the higher the average temperature, the lower the productivity of people.
According to Geoffrey Heal and Jisung Park, it is a hotter Parkthan-
In hot countries, it is not good for productivity on average every year, but it is good in cold countries.
They concluded that human productivity peaked between 18C and 22C.
But there is an inconvenient fact: you can only make the inside cooler by making the outside warmer.
A study in Phoenix, Arizona, found that the heat from air-conditioning units increased the night of the city --
Of course, the operating time temperature of the air conditioner unit is 2C, which makes the external temperature hotter.
In the underground subway system, cooling trains can cause sultry heathot platforms.
Then the electricity that supplies the air conditioner
Usually made of burning gas or coal
Coolant used by air conditioners, many of which are powerful greenhouse gases when they leak.
Air conditioning technology is getting cleaner and cleaner.
But demand is growing so fast-
Even optimists are right about possible efficiency gains.
Energy consumption will increase eight times by 2050.
This is a worrying news for climate change.
When will we also have an invention to control the outdoor weather?
Tim Harford wrote in The Financial Times column of undercover economists.
The BBC World Channel broadcast 50 news about the modern economy.
You can find more information about the source of the program online or subscribe to the program podcast.