[MadSudaca]

Another thing that’s interesting about Europe is that it’s approximately at the same latitude as Canada, with a climate that is substantially warmer. If it was as cold as northern North America, humanity would have taken a completely different course.

[melx]

Yyy not sure if Northern Europe where much of "development" happened on the Old Continent as a whole, is "substantially warmer" than NA.

[rendall]

Definitely is. New York is at the same latitude as Spain but tracks in winter temperature with Southern Finland. Scandinavia is way up in the same latitudes as the Canadian Northwestern Passages but is not nearly as cold.

[melx]

Spain is classified as Southern Europe.

[MadSudaca]

The majority of people in Scandinavia live in the south, where the temperatures are much milder. However, I think that even in the north of these countries, temperatures are still not as bad as in much of Canada during winters.

[dsfyu404ed]

Would you rather wear a toga and sandals in Bangor, Maine or Bangor, Wales?

[laurencerowe]

This seems to be a west coast of ocean vs east coast of ocean effect. Seattle and Vancouver have a similar climate to Paris and London.