The A.C. Quandary
Photo by Misha Gravenor/Getty Images
- New York usage breaks 2005 energy consumption record
- Heat wave does lasting damage across California
- Utah heat wave could cause rolling blackouts
- Extended heat wave impacts Central Valley crops
- Heat wave straining power
- Heat wave, drought hit U.S. farmers hard
- Racing dogs perish in heat wave
- No end in sight to Europe’s heat
- Heat wave worsens toxins in already-closed lake
- Air quality dives as temps rise
- Heat wave causes a pileup of livestock carcasses
- Global warming, not just heat wave
- Scientists split on heat wave cause
- Does heatwave prove climate change?
- Global warming disputes heat up Congress
From Gristmill:
More heat = more electricity usage.
More electricity usage = more carbon emissions.
More carbon emissions = … you get the idea.
We’re digging our own graves, suffice to say. Our home is kept cool by a couple of box-window fans and desk fans, and plenty of water we keep chilled in two pitchers in the fridge. (Chekhov hangs out in the bathtub if he’s feeling the heat.) “We can just suck it up now,” I told the hub, “or face a future where babies spontaneously combust in the delivery room because it’s THAT HOT.”
I say this in jest but you know what I mean. Says the NRDC, “Unless we act now, our children will inherit a hotter world, dirtier air and water, more severe floods and droughts, and more wildfires.”
Every bulb you switch prevents roughly 1,000 pounds of global warming pollution over the life of the bulb.
Feel free to steal this linky button. Just save it to your own server, si’l vous plait. (Original illustration © Environmental Defense)
Adelin said,
July 27, 2006 at 8:37 am
What I’ve been doing here in Singapore is cooling the room down with the airconditioner for about 30 minutes, and then turning off the airconditioning, keeping the door closed, and letting the fan keep the room cool. I’m trying to sleep nights without the airconditioning, and so far it’s been alright.
Tash said,
July 28, 2006 at 7:28 am
We don’t have air-con very much in England, just because up until recently our summers have never prompted us to take such drastic measures to keep cool. But this summer we’ve had the hottest July on record so far, peaking at an unnatural 36.6ºC a week or so ago. This means more and more people are resorting to air-conditioning and fans. We do have a fan, but use it very very rarely, and only if it’s so hot that we can’t sleep (it goes on a timer, on for around 10-15 mins every couple of hours throughout the night).
I do worry that we’re already in a very bad self-perpetuating cycle selfishness. There are so many people out there who would quite happily say “why should I be hot when I *can* have air conditioning?” etc - very few people seem to care for others, and more importantly, the children to come.