Air conditioning : extremely costly solution

By admin3485, 2 July 2026

Some adaptation strategies actually exacerbate global warming—air conditioning being a prime example. While useful for protecting vulnerable individuals from extreme heat in sensitive settings, air conditioning is extremely costly, consumes significant energy, and heats up the outside air. Consequently, a heatwave becomes even more dangerous for the surrounding neighborhood.

Furthermore, air conditioning systems rely on refrigerant gases that contribute to climate change. For instance, some units use “R-32” gas, which can leak into the environment as the equipment ages. A single gram of this gas has a global warming potential 675 times greater than that of a gram of CO2. Finally, the high cost of air conditioning puts it out of reach for a large segment of the population. The prevalence of such systems varies according to socio-professional status, highlighting a greater vulnerability among the poorest households, who have less capacity to protect themselves from the effects of extreme heat.