The Conversation: Using your air conditioner is a form of climate denial

Essay by Eric Worrall

“…If we were to use technologies like air conditioning to avoid addressing the root causes of climate change, we would be in denial. …”

New climate denial? Use wealth to protect yourself from discomfort and change

Published: February 7, 2023 3:48 pm AEDT
Hannah Della Bosca
PhD Candidate and Research Assistant at the Sydney Environmental Institute, University of Sydney

While the days of public climate denial are mostly ended, there is a distinct form of rejection that appears in its stead. You may have experienced it and not even realized it. It is called refuse to implyand it happens when you consciously perceive climate change as a serious threat without making significant changes to your everyday behavior in response.

Much research has focused on how we mentally distance ourselves from the unpleasant realities happening around us. What requires more attention is how we can participate in climate denial by finding spaces of sensory comfort and using them to shield ourselves as the world unravels outside. outside our window.

Rejection, thought of it this way, is perfectly reasonable. my colleague and i residents asked around the western Sydney suburb of Penrith – famously hottest place on earth in Black Summer 2019-2020 – about their experiences in heatwave conditions. Not surprisingly, feeling denial is central to how they deal with extremes – primarily by using air conditioners.

…

Why is this problem?

If we used technologies like air conditioning to avoid addressing the root causes of climate change, we would be in denial.

As the world heats up, the demand for air conditioners has skyrocketed. International Energy Agency estimated that by 2050, up to two-thirds of the world’s households will have air conditioners installed, especially in China, India and Indonesia.

…

Read more: https://theconversation.com/the-new-climate-denial-using-wealth-to-insulate-yourself-from-discomfort-and-change-199101

Is dressing up or setting a fire to stay warm in winter a form of sensory climate denial?

If we were all really exposed to our local climate, without clothing, blankets or any other form of personal climate adjustment, I suspect most of us would quickly concluded that the planet was too cold for humans.

Correction (EW): h/t nickname – Conversations, not SMH. I blame climate change…