Air conditioning systems around the world have the potential to produce more carbon dioxide a year by 2050 than the US does today, researchers have said.
The study from a team at the University of Birmingham anticipates that air con usage will double over the next 25 years as increasingly high temperatures force people to remain indoors to stay cool. Even mid-range predictions suggest that electricity for cooling could reach 4,493TWh annually, and in the worst case be responsible for more carbon emissions globally than the modern-day US.
Today, regions that need cooling the most, such as South Asia and Africa, have the least access to air con whereas wealthier regions such as Europe and North America have lower cooling needs but higher usage.
In future, most of the extra emissions are expected to come from higher usage in developing countries as incomes continue to rise.
Researchers estimate that air conditioning use will add 0.03°C to 0.07°C of global warming by 2050, depending on the...