(114°F, not far from the ocean, which is messed up)
Hi so yes, it was pretty hot a couple weeks ago. I did skate in this temperature. For about 20 mn or so. It felt like I had someone holding lighters on high flame near my eyeballs while pushing my board. I know, I’m crazy but also my body is quite well designed to sustain temperatures like this. Still, damn it’s hot.
So people want AC everywhere now. It’s so wrong and here’s how. I’ll use my ex-neighborhood timeline as an example:
1. No one has AC.
2. They start construction of new buildings with AC everywhere. So we go from near zero AC units to literally hundreds.
3. People abuse AC and turn their places into snow huts.
4. Abusing AC means the AC units run at full capacity, which draws a lot of electricity. Remember, hundreds of electric engines are running on roofs 24/7 now.
5. We pay the price: power goes out for hours. Extra noise layer all around. And the worst part: all those electric engines HEAT UP the neighborhood. Coupled with taller buildings which reflect more sun and block winds, not enough vegetation to humidify a bit the air and temperature rises quite significantly (up to 12°C/22°F apparently, which is huge).
6. People are hotter and want even more AC.
Rinse, repeat. It is a negative loop. No one cares, I know. But that’s how our Quality of Life goes down.
Buying an electric car isn’t enough. Roughly 40% of CO2 emissions are due to heating/cooling buildings and their construction.
Solution: we must use passive cooling systems that we know how to do since BC. Low-rise buildings, natural ventilation, windows and trees.
And for the days when we’re gently frying in the 45°C+ vibe, well, we’ll sit under a tree and drink water. We’ll be fine.