.jpg?fit=900%2C676)
Movie theatres, shopping centres and aeroplanes – as soon as you step inside these three places the first thing you often think is ‘brrr, who’s in charge of the air-conditioning here? because they are positively arctic.
While we can’t definitively help you out with a reason for the first two places, the third has a very logical explanation for being cold – it’s freezing for your own good; your health.
According to a study published in the American Society for Testing and Materials, high cabin pressure and warm temperatures are a dangerous cocktail as together, they can cause passengers to faint. Medically this is known as hypoxia, and occurs when the brain and body tissues do not receive enough oxygen.
You’re also more likely to suffer from dehydration and nausea if it’s too warm on board which is exactly why airlines make a habit of pumping up the cool air. And the reason they pump it up so high has to do with individual body thermostats – as each of us has a different idea of what is considered warm. So to ensure everyone is safe on board, cabin crews need it to be cold enough so that even the most hot-blooded person will feel the chill.
You don’t need to be a rocket scientist to figure out the best way to beat the discomfort of cold is by packing layers so you can put more on when you feel the bite and take it off toward the end of the journey when all that body heat from passengers crammed into a metal tube for a long period of time starts to radiate. Also, always except the free airline blanket.
So there you have it, much like the age you should stop wearing jeans and shopping at Zara, another one of life’s little mysteries has been solved.
