Description
On this steamy Frankly, Nate shares how his broken office air conditioner reminds him of the discomforts and dangers being faced by those living in high heat regions – including the heat dome over the Southern U.S and growing ‘wet bulb temperature’ areas around the world. Air conditioners are a modern luxury not afforded to most humans – and those that do use them are in turn part of a positive feedback loop to stay cooler while consuming more fossil energy. And yet as the climate gets hotter and hotter, climate control may shift from a luxury to a necessity for many people to even survive in parts of Earth’s habitat. Can those of us with access to AC – at least as a first step – become more aware of the energy privileges we have? How will we respond in a future with less access to climate control and increasing periods of extreme heat?
Show Notes & Links to Learn More
00:17 – Availability Cascade
01:45 – AC energy requirement
02:05 – Wet Bulb Temperature
02:50 – Roger Pielke, Kevin Anderson
04:30 – Paper discussed: Quantifying the human cost of global warming
05:16 – Heat dome in the US SW, extreme heat in Iran and Iraq, effects of El Niño
More: In India, “phase down” of coal means far more mining with no end in sight, Recommendations to stay cool in the heat, Global Habitability
