This story originally appeared on Vox and is part of the Climate Desk collaboration.
Air conditioners have been working overtime this hot summer, from those tiny window units to the massive AC towers that serve the tightly packed apartment buildings in major cities. And while they bring the relief of cool air, these contraptions also create the conditions for dangerous bacteria to multiply and spread.
One particularly nasty bacteria-borne illness is currently spreading in New York City using those enormous cooling units as its vector: Legionnaire’s disease. The bacterial pneumonia, which usually recurs each summer in the US’s largest city, Wired - Science