Air-conditioning technology has changed surprisingly little since the midcentury, and while air conditioners have grown far more efficient in recent decades—the most efficient models today use 30 to 50 percent less energy than those from the mid-1970s did—there is much room for improvement. We need to spend more money and time on discovering better, more efficient solutions. Electric pump technology can now heat and cool homes with more efficiency than either a furnace or a traditional air conditioner, and it’s becoming more popular in the United States, including in icy-cold places like Maine.
We will also have to undergo an extensive (and expensive) process of retrofitting existing air-conditioning systems and homes. Older air-conditioning systems use far more energy and are much harder to meter than newer systems are. We can design new buildings and renovate old ones in ways that ensure they require less air conditioning to remain safely cool during hot days—and we can even draw inspiration from the architects of the ancient past.
Finally, we need better systems for warning people about heat danger and protecting them when heat waves occur. Some cities such as Los Angeles and Phoenix have begun to hire chief heat officers, who examine ways to protect people from heat waves. People who are socially isolated, especially elderly city dwellers, are much more likely to die during heat disasters—most people who die from heat die alone.
Climate change is real, and air conditioning use is indisputably helping warm the planet. But we can’t demand people go without cooling technology that can save their lives—and that will become even more necessary as the planet warms. Human beings vulnerable to death and injury from heat are not collateral damage in the war against climate change.
