What if: Air conditioning invented earlier?

[Undisguised Sockpuppet]

In 1902, the first device which was a close ancestor to modern day air conditioners was invented. By. Ok so what happen if due to an inventer getting lucky the clock is turned forwards 20 years so AC comes online in 1882 and we see the technology having effects in 1894. Basically we see air conditioning for homes coming in the post WWI boom instead of happening after WWII. What changes?

My guess is that this would have some serious consequences for the world despite being a seemingly minor POD. With air conditioning popping up during the pre-WWI boom era I see more movement of euros to settlement zones. Perhaps South Africa by now is around 25-30% white by now(this ). THe effect of the anglo population being tripled by increased migration means no apartheid(afrikaners being outvoted). I see a south africa which in 2006 includes Botswana and Namibia which has around 60 million people and an average income of $16,000 to $20,000. South Africa probably has the bomb and is more closely tied to NATO. Without apartheid and the resulting. The same boosting factor for population also applies to Australia, Rhodesia and french Algeria. I could see Australia with 1-5 million more people by now and being slightly more european in culture. Perhaps the White Australia Policy is kept up later and broken down slower? Rhodesia with more white people goes down in an even bloodier mess than OTL. We see the educated/skilled rhodesians leaving en masse and zimbabwe/zambia both being as poor as say yemen or the congo by now. Also the US is forced to confront segregation earlier so civil rights come earlier and slower.

[Colin]

Well I kind of doubt that that would happen since Air Conditioning needs electricity to run and I doubt major electrical grids would have been set up in South Africa by 1894. Interesting theory though but it really doesn't get rid of the problem of tropical diseases, including malaria, which are rampant and endemic north and east of South Africa. It may lead to further colonization in French Algeria but I think you would need more problems in France at that time and more government promotion of colonization.

The biggest change that I could see from this is an earlier migration from the North to the South. While the original emigration of Northerns to southern cities began around 1950-1960 and is now really coming to fruition I could see a much earlier dispersal of people to the South than in OTL. This would include earlier development in Florida and the Georgia sea coast alogn with movements of northern populations to Southern populations centres like Birmingham and Atlanta.

I have been wondering lately what would be the best scenario to get a "whiter" Southern Africa just as an intellectual experiment. Probably the easiest way is to have the Bantu tribes of South Africa have less immunity to European diseases, in much the same way as the San and Khakoi people had succomb to European diseases. Also other again more promotion of Dutch immigration by the VOC and possibly a more isolationist and anti-immigrant America could make that happen. Also if America splits during its early years into several nations it would be a much less attractive option and I could see the outflow of some of those heading to South Africa.

[Undisguised Sockpuppet]

Interesting. So what effects on electoral geography would be an earlier dispersal of people to the south?

[Colin]

Interesting. So what effects on electoral geography would be an earlier dispersal of people to the south?

Well the Republican Party would become more powerful in the South and white politics would become more normalized as well as more power being handed to Southern states. However they would still remain much more Democratic than average so it would make America much more Democratic during the early 20th century than it was in real life.

[Platypus]

I really don't think air conditioning would have made Australia whiter. People weren't going to decide to spend a few weeks on a boat going to the other side of the world to live because it was air-conditioned if they weren't already going. Also, the majority of immigrants to Australia probably couldn't have affiorded air-co anyway...it would've been very expensive to import them to Australia. Manufacturing them to a reasonable scale wouldn'tr have been easy, either, until at the earliest the 1920s, really.

[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

The key date for residential air conditioning is 1928 not 1902.  Without a non-flammable, non-corrosive compressor gas such as Freon, air conditioning doesn't enter the average home.  Move the discovery of Freon back to 1908 or so and its use in the post-WWI building boom becomes feasible, altho other infrastructure problems such as having an adequate electricity grid would still pertain to the use of air conditioning in rural areas.

[Colin]

I really don't think air conditioning would have made Australia whiter. People weren't going to decide to spend a few weeks on a boat going to the other side of the world to live because it was air-conditioned if they weren't already going. Also, the majority of immigrants to Australia probably couldn't have affiorded air-co anyway...it would've been very expensive to import them to Australia. Manufacturing them to a reasonable scale wouldn'tr have been easy, either, until at the earliest the 1920s, really.

Also how could Australia get any whiter? They're like 95% white or something close to that. They're whiter than Canada for god's sake.

[Undisguised Sockpuppet]

The key date for residential air conditioning is 1928 not 1902.  Without a non-flammable, non-corrosive compressor gas such as Freon, air conditioning doesn't enter the average home.  Move the discovery of Freon back to 1908 or so and its use in the post-WWI building boom becomes feasible, altho other infrastructure problems such as having an adequate electricity grid would still pertain to the use of air conditioning in rural areas.

I presumed the whole process was spread up by 20 years so yes freon would be discovered for AC use in 1908.

[opebo]

Air conditioning has certainly altered many parts of the world over the last 50 years, though in conjunction with other technological and economic improvements.

However it is my understanding that South Africa is not all that hot most of the year - in fact it is a very dry, low-humidity sort of place.   So air conditioning isn't a vital necessity there.

Even here in Thailand it is only intorably hot from about late March through June 1.  For example Dec. and January have been very cold - I'm wearing a sweater right now at one PM!

There really are few places as as unpleasant in terms of humidity as the American South and Midwest.  Maybe Brazil.

[ag]

I could see Australia with 1-5 million more people by now and being slightly more european in culture.

Australia is as "European in culture" as it gets, whatever that means. Hard to imagine it being anymore so.  Aboriginals were exterminated, aircon or not, and there wasn't any massive non-white migration till the last 30 years (even now the three main source countries for new migrants are, I believe, UK, New Zealand and Italy). Lily white applies to that country even today, all the populist bullsh**t about beign overrun by Asians notwithstanding (the few blacks I know there are all immigrants from the US). The White Australia policy wasn't completely abandoned until the 60s or 70s - you think it could go on any later?

Accelerated migration from Europe earlier in the 20th century? Doubtful. I am not sure if such migrants ever had any info about the climate down under back then. In any case, aircon was never an issue in settling NZ or Tassy, and neither are overpopulous, nor were they ever.

[memphis]

Well I kind of doubt that that would happen since Air Conditioning needs electricity to run and I doubt major electrical grids would have been set up in South Africa by 1894. Interesting theory though but it really doesn't get rid of the problem of tropical diseases, including malaria, which are rampant and endemic north and east of South Africa.

"Tropical diseases" were trouble in the South too. Yellow fever caused quite a bit of trouble in this part of the country in the nineteenth century.

[??????????]

People were still moving here to Florida by the boatload before the advent of central air which largely was unknown to the average Floridian into the 1950s. Only the well to do could afford any kind of a/c before the late 50s and central air was pretty much unheard of in private residence before the early 60's.

[Platypus]

I could see Australia with 1-5 million more people by now and being slightly more european in culture.

Australia is as "European in culture" as it gets, whatever that means. Hard to imagine it being anymore so.  Aboriginals were exterminated, aircon or not, and there wasn't any massive non-white migration till the last 30 years (even now the three main source countries for new migrants are, I believe, UK, New Zealand and Italy). Lily white applies to that country even today, all the populist bullsh**t about beign overrun by Asians notwithstanding (the few blacks I know there are all immigrants from the US). The White Australia policy wasn't completely abandoned until the 60s or 70s - you think it could go on any later?

Accelerated migration from Europe earlier in the 20th century? Doubtful. I am not sure if such migrants ever had any info about the climate down under back then. In any case, aircon was never an issue in settling NZ or Tassy, and neither are overpopulous, nor were they ever.

Well, we are a nation that is primarily made of european mighrants, but it's not quite as 'white' if you know what I mean. In Australia, Italians aren't considered white; the only whites are the anglo-celts. Even Germans and Norwegians are not necessarily reffered to as 'white', although that term isn't used all that much really anyway.

Australia is one of the mosty multicultural nations on earth. It just so happens that most of the cultures are European...but they are different cultures.

It also depends where you are. The Northern Territory is about 40% indigenous iirc; Sydney and Melbourne both have very large migrant communities, and there are growing minorities in other major cities and some regional towns.

As an example from my life, I work with:

6 Anglo-Celts
4 Greeks
2 Maori New Zealanders
3 Italians
1 Indian
1 Romanian
1 Sri Lankan
1 Japanese-Sri Lankan
1 Czech

and 1 i'm not sure about, anglo-Celtic appearance with a odd surname, possibly Scandinavian.

[Undisguised Sockpuppet]

People were still moving here to Florida by the boatload before the advent of central air which largely was unknown to the average Floridian into the 1950s. Only the well to do could afford any kind of a/c before the late 50s and central air was pretty much unheard of in private residence before the early 60's.

True but AC would speed it up.

[ag]

Well, we are a nation that is primarily made of european mighrants, but it's not quite as 'white' if you know what I mean. In Australia, Italians aren't considered white; the only whites are the anglo-celts. Even Germans and Norwegians are not necessarily reffered to as 'white', although that term isn't used all that much really anyway.

Australia is one of the mosty multicultural nations on earth. It just so happens that most of the cultures are European...but they are different cultures.

It also depends where you are. The Northern Territory is about 40% indigenous iirc; Sydney and Melbourne both have very large migrant communities, and there are growing minorities in other major cities and some regional towns.

Well, the usage of the term "white", like everything else in Australia, is some 70 years behind that in the US (sorry, couldn't resist). Al Smith wasn't all that "white" either, you know.

Australia is somewhat diverse by Europe's standards, but in comparison to the US (or Canada) it is blander than artificial vanila.   Of course, Melbourne and Sydney have minority populations, but I was responding to a poster who seemed to believe that Australia was somehow culturally "Asian".  It is always fun when some Americans buy into foreign myths and start fretting about the "whiteness" of Europeans and other antipodeans, without realizing that their own country has been (and remains) more "multicultural" than anywhere in Europe (or Australia) for the last ... ever, I guess?