by Daniel Brouse
June 24, 2025
Infrastructure failures--as power grids buckle under cooling demand--represent one of the most dangerous and ironic feedback loops in the climate crisis. As rising temperatures and wet-bulb conditions make vast regions increasingly uninhabitable without artificial cooling, our dependence on air conditioning and refrigeration surges. In response to manmade heating, we turn to manmade cooling. But this short-term survival mechanism comes at a long-term cost.
The vast majority of the U.S. power grid is still powered by fossil fuels--especially natural gas and coal. As extreme heat drives record-high demand for electricity, especially during peak afternoon hours, utilities are forced to burn more fossil fuels to keep air conditioners running. This directly increases greenhouse gas emissions, particularly CO2 and methane, which further warm the atmosphere and drive the very heat that triggered the demand in the first place. It is a deadly feedback loop, accelerating itself with every passing season.
The result is exponential: hotter weather leads to more cooling, which leads to more emissions, which leads to even hotter weather. This loop is especially dangerous in high-density urban areas, where both the urban heat island effect and high per capita energy consumption magnify the problem. And because fossil fuel infrastructure cannot always keep up with surging demand, blackouts during heat waves have become increasingly common--turning air-conditioned lifelines into death traps for the vulnerable when the power fails.
Moreover, this rising demand is not equally distributed. In wealthier neighborhoods, backup generators, better insulation, and newer HVAC systems may offer some resilience. But in lower-income or marginalized communities, homes are often poorly insulated, cooling systems are outdated or nonexistent, and residents face stark choices between paying energy bills or buying food and medicine. These systemic inequalities deepen the human toll, especially during prolonged heat events.
Globally, the rise of air conditioning is one of the fastest-growing sources of energy consumption. According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), without massive investments in clean energy, the number of air conditioners worldwide could triple by 2050, consuming as much electricity as all of China and India use today. If that electricity continues to come from fossil fuels, it will lock in decades of additional warming--precisely the kind we are trying to escape.
This is the paradox: the more we rely on energy-intensive technologies to survive climate extremes, the more we fuel those extremes. It is a self-reinforcing system collapse, one that cannot be solved by cooling alone.
To break this loop, we must act urgently:
Electrify and decarbonize the grid, making renewable energy the backbone of climate adaptation
Redesign buildings and cities to reduce passive heat gain and the need for mechanical cooling
Invest in equitable access to energy efficiency upgrades, particularly for low-income and frontline communities
Rethink urban infrastructure, including tree cover, reflective materials, and natural ventilation strategies
Phase out fossil fuels at every level of energy generation and use
If we don't intervene, our attempts to adapt will only dig us deeper into crisis. Climate resilience cannot be built on fossil-powered air conditioners. It must be built on a foundation of systems thinking, long-term planning, and an energy revolution that doesn't just help us survive heat--but stops causing it.
Our climate model — incorporating complex social-ecological feedback loops within a dynamic, nonlinear system — projects that global temperatures could rise by up to 9°C (16.2°F) within this century. This far exceeds earlier projections, which estimated a 4°C rise over the next thousand years, and signals a dramatic acceleration of planetary warming.
Crossing the Heat Threshold: Wet-Bulb Temperatures Signal a Climate Turning Point