Cool Privilege

Recorded July 4th, 2023

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

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