Less use of air conditioners would be better for us all

Although this long-term practice is being promoted as a pragmatic means to ensure fairness, since air conditioning is not available at all exam locations, rather than for environmental reasons, it nevertheless offers a good opportunity for the country to reconsider its addiction to air conditioning. If students can manage without A/C in the heat of examinations, could not the rest of the population go cold turkey once in a while? Perhaps the date of these annual examinations could be appropriated as a “National Turn Off Air Conditioning Day.”

If not 'Off,' then 'Down,' since air conditioners consume energy and contribute to climate change in proportion to each degree they are set below ambient temperature.

This means that on hot summer days, air conditioning set to the low 20s can account for more than 50 percent of household energy consumption. This, in turn, means 50 percent of energy costs for the individuals concerned, an increased burden on the country's resources, and an increased threat to the earth's future well-being.

Some cling to the notion that leaving their air conditioning running all day while they are at work so that they can return to cool homes actually saves on energy. This is nonsense, and since most air conditioning units can be programmed to come on at a selected time, it is quite possible to have them cool the home 10 minutes before returning rather than running for 10 hours.

Pursuit of environmentally friendly A/C starts in the store, when energy-efficiency ratings should be considered in addition to price tags. Despite recent technological developments resulting from increased awareness about greenhouse-gas emissions and climate change, air conditioning continues to present a threat to the environment and personal health, just as it has since its invention.

The first commercial A/C units used toxic or inflammable gases such as ammonia and propane. From the 1920s these were replaced with chlorofluorocarbon (CFC) gases that were safer for people, but were later found to be harmful to the earth's ozone layer, which in turn increased the risk of skin cancer, reduced marine plankton and so forth.

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