Severe change in the climate keeps making summer harder and harder for us and many cannot imagine going through them without the comfort of air conditioning but a new study done by the University of Wisconsin-Madison suggests that air-conditioning could actually be the reason behind further increases in air pollution levels and the subsequent degradation of air quality. It is certainly going to have a negative impact on human health. The study was published recently in the journal Public Library of Science (PLOS) Medicine. The research team estimates that an about thousand additional deaths annually in Eastern USA will be because of the ever-increasing levels of polluted air due to the large-scale use of fossil fuels to provide cooling in the workplace and homes. David Abel, lead author of the study said, “What we found is that air pollution will get worse. There are consequences for adapting to future climate change.”
The team analyzed the estimates from five different models to predict how the increased use of energy during the summers will affect this already warming planet and what effect would it have on power consumption from fossil fuels, air quality and the human health in the years to come. Jonathan Patz, senior author of the study and professor at Wisconsin-Madison University said, “In hot summer weather, and as heat waves are projected to increase in frequency and intensity with climate change, there is no question that air conditioning does and will save lives”. But Patz stresses that increased use of air-conditioning will affect air quality and human health negatively. “We’re trading problems”, continues Patz, “Heat waves are increasing and increasing in intensity. We will have more cooling demand requiring more electricity. But if our nation continues to rely on coal-fired power plants for some of our electricity, each time we turn on the air conditioning we’ll befouling the air, causing more sickness and even deaths.”
According to Tracey Holloway, a UW–Madison professor and co-author of the study, the research will help scientists understand better the problem of using fossil fuels to provide cooling in large buildings and whether a less energy consuming alternative could be developed. She notes that buildings consume a lot of power in the US and air conditioning forms a large part of the total electrical demand. She predicts that there will be increases in ground-level ozone and fine particulate matter in the air- both of which will be harmful to human health. “Climate change is here and we’re going to need to adapt,” continues Abel. “But air conditioning and the way we use energy is going to provide a feedback that will exacerbate air pollution as temperatures continue to get warmer.” The team suggests that the best way to tackle this issue would be switching to better energy-efficient air conditioning options or seeking alternatives like wind and solar power. “The answer is clean energy,” concluded Abel. “That is something we can control that will help both climate change and future air pollution. If we change nothing, both are going to get worse.”