VOA慢速英语--Warming Planet Risks Causing 'Cooling Poverty'

 

Climate change has brought more frequent and extreme heat waves around the world.

This has led to strong demand for air conditioners and other cooling equipment. The demand for air conditioners is rising, with 10 new machines sold every second on average.

But a University of Oxford¹ researcher warns that poor people may have to suffer through the rising heat.

By the year 2050, energy use for cooling is expected to be 300 percent higher than it is today. But in hot countries like India, China, Brazil and Indonesia, it is expected to grow by 500 percent, the World Bank has said.

Radhika Khosla leads an Oxford Martin School program on future cooling. She notes that, “By the end of the century, global energy demand for cooling will be more than it is for heating.”

But not everyone will have the money to buy an air conditioner.

Khosla said that, traditionally, “energy poverty has been defined² as people not having heating.” Now that is changing and “we could have cooling poverty,” she warned.

She spoke³ to the Thompson Reuters Foundation at a conference on lowering planet-warming gases.

Health risks of heat waves

Rising heat is having a serious effect on health, with the number of deaths and people being admitted to hospitals going up during heat waves.

But rising heat could also affect productivity⁴, as workers suffer in dangerously hot conditions, climate scientists say.

The United Nations provides financial support to an organization called Sustainable Energy for All, or SEforALL. A report from SEforALL says more than 1.1 billion people worldwide face immediate⁵ risks from lack of access to cooling.

On a warming planet, cooling is a necessity for everyday life, said the group’s leader, Rachel Kyte.

Better buildings

But because air conditioners use 20 times as much power as a traditional fan, their growing popularity⁶ could increase demand for electricity from fossils⁷ fuels, like oil and gas. And this would worsen climate change.

Instead of depending fully⁸ on air conditioning, buildings should be designed so they are easier to keep cool, which is still rare, Khosla noted⁹.

Her modern home, for example, has windows that open just the width of a hand, making it hard to keep cool on hot days, she said.

She has herself lived in many hot cities from New Delhi to Chicago. And she predicted that in the future, housing that cannot stay cool or have air conditioning could see a drop in value, even in cooler areas.

New technology

In some developing nations with rising wages, buying an air conditioner is also a sign of success.

So, making less power-hungry, low cost air conditioners will be important, Khosla believes.

Most machines for sale now – the majority built in China – are half as energy-efficient as they could be, she said. But researchers are working on more efficient cooling technologies that could reach the market in as little as two years.

Judges are now looking at entries for a $3 million international cooling prize. The U.S.-based Rocky Mountain Institute launched the competition. The goal is to develop a less costly¹⁰ window air conditioning system that is at least five times more efficient than current models.

Amory Lovins is a co-founder of the institute. He said designing less costly, more efficient air conditioning is “extremely important.”

Getting manufacturers to speed up production will also be central to the goal, Khosla said. And this can be done partly by making policies that require greater energy efficiency.

Better cooling

Khosla said energy-efficient cooling systems are one tool we have left to avoid worsening climate change. And using less energy for cooling would help prevent power blackouts in cities on very hot days.

Cities also deal with the issue of the cooling systems releasing heat as they use energy, which can raise temperatures even more, Khosla said.

All these risks mean smarter cooling must happen quickly, before the world gets even hotter and more families buy air conditioners, she added.

I’m Alice Bryant.

Words in This Story

frequent – adj. happening often

heat wave – n. a period of unusually hot weather.

access – n. a way of being able to use or get something

fan – n. a machine or device that is used to move the air and make people or things cooler

energy-efficient – adj. capable of reducing the amount of electrical energy needed to provide products and services

blackout – n. a period when lights are off because of an electrical power failure

1 Oxford   

n.牛津（英国城市）

参考例句：

• At present he has become a Professor of Chemistry at Oxford.他现在已是牛津大学的化学教授了。
• This is where the road to Oxford joins the road to London.这是去牛津的路与去伦敦的路的汇合处。

2 defined   

adj 定义的; 清晰的

参考例句：

• These categories are not well defined. 这些类别划分得不太明确。
• The powers of a judge are defined by law. 法官的权限是由法律规定的。

3 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

4 productivity   

n.生产力，生产率，多产

参考例句：

• Farmers are introducing in novations which increase the productivity.农民们正引进提高生产力的新方法。
• The workers try to put up productivity.工人设法提高生产率。

5 immediate   

adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的

参考例句：

• His immediate neighbours felt it their duty to call.他的近邻认为他们有责任去拜访。
• We declared ourselves for the immediate convocation of the meeting.我们主张立即召开这个会议。

6 popularity   

n.普及，流行，名望，受欢迎

参考例句：

• The story had an extensive popularity among American readers.这本小说在美国读者中赢得广泛的声望。
• Our product enjoys popularity throughout the world.我们的产品饮誉全球。

7 fossils   

n.化石( fossil的名词复数 )；老顽固；食古不化的人；老古董（老人）

参考例句：

• fossils over two million years old 两百多万年的化石
• The geologist found many uncovered fossils in the valley. 在那山谷里，地质学家发现了许多裸露的化石。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

9 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

10 costly   

adj.昂贵的，价值高的，豪华的

参考例句：

• It must be very costly to keep up a house like this.维修这么一幢房子一定很昂贵。
• This dictionary is very useful,only it is a bit costly.这本词典很有用，左不过贵了些。