The usual suspects really can’t get enough of the European heat wave. For instance Bloomberg “Weekend” grimly profiles “How to Raise Young Children in One of Europe’s Hottest Capitals”, formerly snowy Madrid. And we have conceded that Europe’s had a hot first half of summer and if it really does keep getting worse and none of the other explanations hold up they will be in a position to claim vindication. But we also accuse them of cherry-picking, not only because plenty of places are not particularly hot at this point but also and more seriously because they have a bad habit of seizing on anything that’s unusually bad and saying “new normal” when it’s not. For instance hurricanes or wildfires… calling it a new normal in years when they’re above average, while ignoring years where they’re lower. If Europe is back to its usual (uncomfortably) hot summers next year, they’ll just move on as if nothing had happened. Or rather as if their case for a permanent change had been proven beyond rational doubt by an ephemeral one.

OK, Bloomberg doesn’t say Madrid used to be snowy. But it does insist that:

“From timing park visits to cold showers, parenting in Madrid offers a preview of how climate change is reshaping family life across Europe.”

Which is nonsense on stilts. First, climate change is not “reshaping family life across Europe”. Lots of things are doing so; for instance scary statistics about the disappearance of dining room tables and even dining rooms in Britain and elsewhere.

Here unfortunately the US is no different. According to the website Mental Floss:

“The other probable reason for the decline in dining rooms is that people generally don’t spend as much effort coordinating sit-down family meals. In the U.S., only around 30 percent of families eat their meals together. With dedicated family meal time becoming fairly rare, it doesn’t make sense for modern homes to include a room dedicated to group dining.”

Also British homes are getting smaller as the government for some reason keeps encouraging mass migration into those crowded isles. But we digress.

The point is, while Madrid does seem to have been cooler during the Little Ice Age than after it ended, it is also the case that the Spanish invented the “siesta”, where you do some of your sleeping in the early afternoon because it’s way too hot for serious work, and to have invented it long ago, before there was climate. As Wikipedia explains:

“The siesta is an old tradition in Spain and, through Spanish influence, in most of Latin America and the Philippines. The Spanish word siesta is originally derived from the Latin phrase [hora] sexta (‘sixth [hour]’, counting from dawn, hence “midday rest”), which puts it around noon time…. In many countries that practice the siesta, the summer heat can be unbearable in the early afternoon, making a midday break at home welcome.”

Gosh. An old tradition due to unbearable summer heat. Who knew? Wikipedia also says “In modern Spain and Portugal, the midday nap during the working week is being gradually abandoned among the adult working population.” We wonder whether it has anything to do with air-conditioning in offices but not houses.

Now back to wildfires.