On the terrible cost of Air Conditioning
Air conditioning and its impact on American life and culture - latimes.com
Running full blast, a car's air conditioner dramatically increases levels of noxious exhaust in the surrounding air, guaranteeing that other drivers will have to keep their windows closed and the air running. In that, as in many other ways — by aggravating global warming, by encouraging poor building ventilation, by increasing our own biological susceptibility to heat — dependence on air conditioning always seems to generate demand for more air conditioning.
Air conditioning buildings and cars in the United States has the climate impact of half a billion metric tons of carbon dioxide a year. That exceeds the total annual carbon dioxide emissions of any one of these nations: Australia, France, Brazil or Indonesia. In an effort to reduce energy use and curb greenhouse emissions, industry and government are pursuing more efficient cooling technologies for cars and buildings. But greater efficiency can't reverse the unsustainable living, working and transportation patterns that air conditioning has helped foster.
Greener building designs that favor natural ventilation will help, but in the millions of existing homes, workplaces and schools that we'll be using for decades to come, the most important adjustment will be not in our thermostats but in our own comfort expectations.
