The Heat Will Kill You First: Life and Death on a Scorched Planet

by Jeff Goodell

Air-conditioning is also a big energy suck. Globally, air-conditioning accounts for nearly 20 percent of the total electricity used in buildings, which means it contributes a significant amount of the greenhouse gas pollution from buildings that are heating up the atmosphere. The hotter the planet gets, the more air-conditioning feels necessary. The more it feels necessary, the more electricity is required to power it. And as long as some portion of that electricity is generated by fossil fuels, that means more greenhouse gas pollution—which further heats up the climate. It’s a vicious cycle. And it is even more vicious in cities, especially in older and poorer neighborhoods, where old, inefficient window air conditioners hang out of every building, sucking heat out of the interior but blowing it out into the street. In this sense, air-conditioning is not a cooling technology at all—it’s simply a tool for heat redistribution.