When Secretary of State John F. Kerry was in Austria’s capital Vienna recently to join discussions on climate change, chances were low that he encountered too many air conditioned rooms.
“If the second, fourth, and fifth most populous nations – India, Indonesia, and Brazil, all hot and humid – were to use as much energy per capita for air conditioning as does the U.S., it would require 100 percent of those countries’ electricity supplies, plus all of the electricity generated by Mexico, the United Kingdom, Italy, and the entire continent of Africa,” said Stan Cox, a researcher who focuses on indoor climate controlling. Within the next 80 years, global electricity consumption is expected to rise by more than 80 percent due to more air conditioning, and an increased use of fridges and fans.
“Yesterday, I met in Washington with 45 nations – defense ministers and foreign ministers – as we were working together on the challenge of Daesh, ISIL, and terrorism,” Kerry said, referring to the Islamic State group.
“It’s hard for some people to grasp it, but what we – you – are doing here right now is of equal importance because it has the ability to literally save life on the planet itself,” he said, referring to climate change in general and the hope to curb the use of HCFC gases in particular. About 90 percent of those gases are used in fridges or air conditioning systems.
“The concern is that if the world doesn’t transition away from HCFCs, that will cause problems because the developing world, including China and India, are poised – as they develop and as the climate warms – to become enormous markets for air conditioners and other uses of these chemicals,” said Anthony Leiserowitz, the Director of the Yale Program on Climate Change Communication.
“Americans tend to keep their thermostats at the same temperature all year around. In contrast, Europeans tend to set their thermostats higher in summer and lower in winter. Consequently, while indoors, Europeans wear sweaters in winter, while Americans wear sweaters in summer,” Michael Sivak from the University of Michigan told The Washington Post last year.
