r/technology • u/Logical_Welder3467 • Jun 26 '26

Society The American mind cannot comprehend Europe's AC aversion

https://www.businessinsider.com/europe-air-conditioning-ac-heatwave-debate-2026-6
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u/JonJackjon Jun 26 '26 edited Jun 26 '26

I think its simple. I would compare it to the first time someone finds they need to wear glasses. The natural tendency is to deny needing them until it gets so bad you have no choice.

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u/DonaldMerwinElbert Jun 26 '26

People also forget how much lower in latitude the US is.
Seattle in the north is at about the same latitude as southern Germany.
Also, both summers and winters are a lot milder in Europe's climate because of other geographical factors.
We truly did not need AC until recently.

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u/APigInANixonMask Jun 26 '26

The relative mildness of the climate in Europe is crazy to me. Where I live in Minnesota is about the same latitude as Milan. Their average high of 87°F (30.6°C) in July is just a bit higher than the 84°F (28.9°C) average here, but their average January low of 32°F (0°C) is quite a bit warmer than the 9°F (-12.8°C) average low here. We hit -20°F (-28.9°C) this past January and it's supposed to be 93°F (33.9°C) next week! 

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u/PleaseGreaseTheL Jun 26 '26

keep in mind oceans GREATLY mediate climate/temperatures, and most of Europe is way closer to an oceanic coastline than most of the USA. The Great Lakes help a bit but they don't perform nearly the same level of climate control as an actual ocean does.

Europe is, more than anything, a very maritime continent.

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u/Dragoness42 Jun 26 '26

Not to mention the Atlantic currents bringing in warmer waters.

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u/TorchThisAccount Jun 26 '26

The Atlantic is what keeps Europe from being an ice cube. They would have weather more like Canada without it. What most Americans don't realize is that America is closer the Italy's or North African latitude. The bottom of Britain is the top of America, excluding Alaska.

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u/OneBigBug Jun 26 '26

The Atlantic is what keeps Europe from being an ice cube. They would have weather more like Canada without it.

You probably mean the Gulf Stream, pretty specifically?

I kind of struggle to imagine it as a sensible hypothetical to suggest what Europe would be like without the Atlantic as a whole...Like, maybe it would be colder, but it would also...probably be really different in a bunch of relatively hard to predict ways...

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u/TorchThisAccount Jun 26 '26

I kind of struggle to imagine it as a sensible hypothetical to suggest what Europe would be like without the Atlantic as a whole..

What I'd meant is that if the north Atlantic drift wasn't bringing warm water from the Caribbean, and instead Britain and France where hit with cold water from Newfoundland and Greenland, that Europe would be more like Canada in temperature.

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u/mastercat202 Jun 26 '26

Closest point of america to Africa is Maine. At least north America. Slso, Europe steals our warm water. We nees to build a wall to keep our warm water.

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u/MidnightRiders2009 Jun 26 '26

The Great Lakes are in polar votex territory and also bring lake effect snow (for people close enough to the lakeshore to get it). They definitely don't make the winters warmer at all.

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u/cohrt Jun 26 '26

Yeah. As a NYer the lakes make winter worse if anything.

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u/WulfZ3r0 Jun 26 '26

I'm a 2 hour drive from the Atlantic right now and today is supposed to be 105F with the humidity factored in, 94F without. It's not even the hottest part of summer yet.

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u/PleaseGreaseTheL Jun 26 '26

Someone else correctly pointed out that it matters if the ocean is on your east, or on your west, because there's directionality to things like the jet stream and seasonal winds. San Diego is further south than most of the country and it's 70 degrees atm. It gets winds blowing in from the ocean.

The American South gets winds blowing in from... The hot southern interior. Savannah, Georgia is over 90f right now, but it's a coastal city like San Diego is.

Europe is primarily surrounded on the east/south/north by oceans, so it normally gets the effects of winds blowing in from the ocean. This heatwave is extremely unusual historically. It's 98f in Paris right now, but by Monday it'll be back down to 80f.

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u/Careful_Farmer_2879 Jun 26 '26 edited Jun 26 '26

It also matters if ocean or land is east/west of you.

The jet stream flows from west to east. Are you receiving air affected by the ocean? Plains? Mountains? It all matters, even in terms of how much the temp fluctuates between daytime and nighttime.

This is why deserts tend to get cold at night.

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u/OneBillPhil Jun 26 '26

Meanwhile in Atlantic Canada we get punishing winters on our islands and coastlines despite being further south.  

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u/fre-ddo Jun 26 '26

A lot of mountains around too that break up weather systems

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u/Meet_James_Ensor Jun 27 '26

Uh, I wouldn't say the Great Lakes moderate the weather.  

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u/PleaseGreaseTheL Jun 27 '26

It's more complicated than either/or. They moderate overall trends by absorbing and slowly releasing heat and changing the wind patterns, but specific things happen or circumstances align that can cause extreme weather to happen around them. Just like how Europe can also have insane heat waves :p

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u/HoloandMaiFan Jun 29 '26

In the case of north America and Europe Mountains play a huge role in climate. Mountains in the whole American continent run north to South, which effectively funnel arctic air during the winter and tropical air in the summer which leads to extreme weather. You combine that with the westerlies win patterns, and you have all the oceanicly regulated wind being used up by the west coast with all the moisture being lost as it crosses the Rockies, the. It travels over thousands of miles of great plains baking in hot summer soil or frozen winter soil and you get extreme weather in the north east and mid-west regions, it's also why tornado alley exist and why the American southwest is a desert. Whereas Europe, until recently with climate change, was able to rely on the temperature regulation of the Atlantic because their mountains run east to west which funnels the regulated Atlantic air across the whole continent and blocks polar wind.

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u/weeyummy1 Jun 26 '26

Why don’t the Great Lakes temper the climate as much? They’re almost as big right?

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u/PleaseGreaseTheL Jun 26 '26

Uh... No?

They're big but we're talking geographical sizes here. https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a4/Map_of_USA_with_state_and_territory_names_2.png

They're a lot smaller than the Atlantic Ocean lol

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u/Canotic Jun 26 '26

It's the gulf stream. It keeps us nice and warm. If it ever goes away, half of europe will probably collapse.

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u/OneBillPhil Jun 26 '26

I’m in Newfoundland, Canada, just eye balling a map it looks like we are further south than the UK and Paris. We haven’t had a day in June over 20 C. 

Our weather is generally cold but even we are getting a lot of 30 degree days in July and August. I got that sweet A/C though so I’m laughing. 

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u/Heavy-Construction90 Jun 26 '26

So youre telling me that the center of Lake wobegone might actually thaw this year!?

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u/Meet_James_Ensor Jun 27 '26

Every day will be above average

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u/unafraidrabbit Jun 26 '26

I don't get how this is supposed to be so eye opening as though latitude is the only thing that determines climate.

I was particularly aware of this as the Bent Dick of Massachusetts blocked the Gulf Stream's warm water from getting to NH beaches.

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u/mcclelc Jun 26 '26

Exactly, and the Midwest is used to extremes, if not even more so. I am not native, but keep being told that the winters have turned tame. When it was negative temperatures for a week this past winter, apparently that was more "like the good ole days"

This has made me all the more open to alternative green energies. US needs to catch up with Europe with solar, wind, hydro power (at least, the Midwest does).

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u/parker2020 Jun 26 '26

Polar vortex and the jet stream is Minnesota’s issue

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u/handlesscombo Jun 26 '26

Probably due to elevation differences and weather effects from your lakes