Creature comforts
Up until 1900, Key West was Florida’s largest city. In 1890, it had 18,000 hearty residents.
In short, without air conditioning and similar creature comforts, Florida never would have been anything beyond a curiosity for a handful of European settlers. This is even more true of my native Arizona.
It’s something to think about as many of the places we live have been made suitable for large-scale habitation only by huge technological advances.
We live under the sword of Damocles.