Page 150 - James Rodger Fleming - Fixing the sky

rainmakers “who have boasted of their abilities to end drouths by the simple
expediency of setting off a few explosives,” or of those charlatans who “would
mount receptacles containing small quantities of chemicals on poles or platforms
in the vicinity of the drouth stricken areas, and then trust to the law of averages
and old Mother Nature to come through with rain at the psychological moment
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so they may collect rain-making fees.” He deemed the prospects for controlling
outdoor weather “rather slim” for a great many centuries to come.
Gregg’s focus was on the control of indoor weather, on display that day in the
air-conditioned house, where there was “no necessity for suffering from weather
discomforts.” of course, indoor air-conditioning really began before recorded
history, when people sought shelter from the storm to keep them dry and warm.
Roofs, doors, windows, screens, fireplaces, stoves, and furnaces function either
to keep out undesirable elements like rain, wind, and pests or to allow in or pro-
vide desirable elements such as shade, light, and heat. In hot climates, traditional
practices of ventilation and evaporative cooling have long served to moderate heat,
if not moisture. The inner atmosphere of the show house of 1934, however, had
been refrigerated and dehumidified by mechanical means, the science of thermo-
dynamics, the engineering that has come to be known as HVAC, and the power
supplied by electricity. According to Gregg, conditioning this indoor air was solv-
ing “the one thing that actually has the most lasting effect upon the human body
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and human activity—weather, if only in a small way.” Gregg, speaking from the
front porch of the house, speculated about the possible, if impracticable, project of
refrigerating an entire city mechanically, but he did point out, prophetically, that
air-conditioning would allow cities to expand in areas formerly considered too
hot for comfort. He might be amazed today to see air-conditioned mega-malls
and domed stadiums, but not really, since even then air-conditioning was becom-
ing more and more popular. on his inspection tour out west, through the dust
bowl region, Gregg, at least on occasion, traveled on air-conditioned trains, slept
in air-conditioned hotels, and ate in air-conditioned restaurants. He spoke of air-
conditioning in relief of hay fever and of living in it from cradle to grave, citing the
hospital incubators supporting the Dionne quintuplets, born in May of that year
in Canada, and the growing trend for air-conditioned funeral parlors. His weather
bureau office in Washington, D.C., however, was not air-conditioned; it had high
ceilings and fans that helped alleviate the oppressive heat somewhat. The federal
government followed liberal leave policies during heat waves.
But what about the outside air? In the summer of 1938, Gregg sent letters to his
colleagues asking them to speculate on what the meteorological profession might
look like in fifty years. Most of the responses focused on scientific and technologi-
cal advances in forecasting. Some emphasized the growing importance of upper-air

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