this post was submitted on 12 Aug 2024
178 points (98.9% liked)
Climate - truthful information about climate, related activism and politics.
5197 readers
849 users here now
Discussion of climate, how it is changing, activism around that, the politics, and the energy systems change we need in order to stabilize things.
As a starting point, the burning of fossil fuels, and to a lesser extent deforestation and release of methane are responsible for the warming in recent decades:
How much each change to the atmosphere has warmed the world:
Recommended actions to cut greenhouse gas emissions in the near future:
Anti-science, inactivism, and unsupported conspiracy theories are not ok here.
founded 1 year ago
MODERATORS
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
view the rest of the comments
Ancient people developed technology to cool their buildings long before electricity. Windcatchers, awnings, evaporative coolers combined with good old-fashioned thermal insulation were all very effective technologies for keeping cool in otherwise inhospitable places.
There are serious talks about reintroducing these in some places to reduce ballooning electricity use from AC.
I think the debate in that is passive vs active rather than just using technology. If the Hoover Dam were to become inoperable, would residents of Las Vegas be able to survive? And if it’s questionable what does aid, or worse a middle of the desert mass evacuation, even consist of? And this avoids even discussing current residents who in the face of increasing temperatures and energy prices may not be able to keep up with cooling needs.
Oh, absolutely. That would be an instant massive humanitarian disaster. I was more trying to respond to this though:
Essentially going through some of the ancient technologies used for cooling buildings.
If the Hoover Dam becomes inoperable, the entire Southwest US is in trouble. It provides water for farms and power, both mostly in California. Las Vegas would actually be the last to feel the effects of Lake Mead drying up because they've installed a deeper "straw" to draw water from, along with a pumping station.
https://www.snwa.com/where-southern-nevada-gets-its-water/our-regional-water-system/intake-no-3.html
Serious talks? At least insulation is the standard in new construction, at least in Germany. Works for winter and summer. Add ventilation with energy recuperation, solar panels and a heat pump, many homes produce more energy than they consume in a yearly scale.
Hold up there pardner, homes producing more energy than they consume? That sounds vaguely communistic-like, and we don't take kindly to that sort of thinkin' round here. Just gonna hunker down and let the invisible hands of Jesus and the market take care of us 'cause this here's the greatest nation on the whole earth. /S
I meant to imply that thermal insulation is a prerequisite to any cooling tech, new or old. Looking at my comment again, I just worded it badly.
That's pretty cool. Getting modern insulation on older apartment blocks here in Romania is an uphill struggle. You need every occupant of the block to sign off on it, and that always results in massive headaches from someone who doesn't want to pay the 30 Euros per person.
I would love to see it!