Thursday, June 10, 2010

Article Share: In Making Our Own Weather, Have We Remade Ourselves?

A short bunny trail already this morning and I stumble on this excellent article on basically, the effects of artificial cool air.

There are very good studies out there on the effects of all that air conditioned air...the health issues are beyond varied, the environmental issues of all those emissions no matter how 'good and new' the system...there's a lot if you want to really study it all out.

I *know* the a/c gives your body a marked weakness in aligning itself to the heat outside. Using it makes basic, everyday activities that much more difficult, even at 'cooler' summer temps. My brain really does wrap around that stuff.
Still, I'd have to fight you to the floor with every mili-ounce of my being if you tried to take my artificial cool away, say now, during this incredible heat and humidity.


Seriously though (I *was* being serious there...but you know what I mean...), give the essay sharing some consideration. It is something to consider, despite the heat. Moderation is a huge key in everything.


http://www.powells.com/blog/?p=19307

Here's just an excerpt:
(.......)By attracting children to the great indoors, air-conditioning shields them from seasonal allergens and disease-bearing mosquitoes. But by living mostly indoors, children also receive less exposure to friendly soil bacteria and nematodes — organisms that appear to be required for the "training" of immune systems. And that, say a growing number of scientists, may be contributing to the dramatic rise in the incidence of asthma and allergy.

Medical researchers have speculated that air-conditioning may even contribute to rising obesity rates. There are at least three mechanisms: the human body burns calories more slowly when it doesn't have to work to shed heat; we eat more when we're in a cool environment; and people, especially children, are less physically active indoors than out. Thanks partly to air-conditioning, we just aren't getting outdoors as much. In my own Kansas neighborhood, a shady street on a pleasant 80° summer evening can be as free of human life as it would be on Super Bowl Sunday in the middle of a sleet storm.

Even our mental and emotional development (and especially that of our children) may be shaped by air-conditioning. Recent studies suggest that time spent in outdoor green spaces pumps up children's creativity and their ability to focus attention, whereas indoor activities tend to increase the symptoms of attention-deficit disorders. Air-conditioning has also helped pave the way for the widespread elimination of outdoor school recess, despite research showing that recess improves attentiveness and behavior in the classroom.

1 comment:

Linda @ Linda's Lunacy said...

The writer does make some good points. The point about kids needing to play in dirt is a valid one. I've read that in numerous places before. It really does build their immune systems.

Even with a/c, my kids need no encouragement to get dirty. lol

As someone who has a heat intolerance, (I get sick, have actually passed out from the heat before, just being in the sun puts me over the edge) I will also fight for my a/c.

I am still amazed by the fact that my husband and I lived in central Florida WITHOUT a/c. I was much younger then. lol

Jer.6:16

Jeremiah 6:16
Thus saith the LORD, Stand ye in the ways, and see, and ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls.

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