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It's Okay to Be Smart

Can We Solve the Air Conditioning Paradox?

Season 11 Episode 4

As Earth warms, billions of people in the developing world will face life-threatening heat waves, raising demand for air conditioning. But powering all that cooling is going to take more energy, which will, paradoxically, require more fossil fuels burning, creating more carbon and more warming. So scientists are developing new kinds of air conditioning, including solid, refrigerants.