"It was a central cooling system, so there was nothing anyone could do, " he says.

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Data also showed a warming in the equatorial Pacific, cooling in the central North Pacific and general cooling the Southern Hemisphere.

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Heating and cooling experts say central air-conditioning systems should be serviced annually to remove dirt, change filters and check the level of Freon, a refrigerant.

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Central electric power plants, in particular, are highly dependent on vast quantities of cooling water that will become scarcer under climate change.

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Related problems were evidenced by the closures of central power plants across Europe during the heat wave of 2003 because river water temperatures rose to levels where cooling was not possible or environmentally acceptable.

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