Edit: i'm okay with this article. The economic ghoulism at the start seems like it's there to either lure ghouls in to the core argument, or appease their editors who know most people aren't going to read past the first paragraph. The real meat of it is highlighting the unbelievable suffering that is going to happen, and that ac is the only real way to even briefly mitigate.

Original post: Are they doing this from an "old people, and eventually everyone, will literally die without powered a/c as the climate gets worse" perspective or a "but my treats!" Perspective.

Because i agree with the former. Heat stress both kills outright and also greatly taxes the health of vulnerable people over time, and when it gets bad enough it'll start killing healthy people as well as the elderly or infirm so it's not enough to have a/c selectively as things continue to get worse.

It's an absolutely miserable catch-22. A/c draws a great deal of power, but without it vulnerable people will, and already are, dying in great numbers. Many parts of the world cannot make due with even the best passive cooling systems and will need powered a/c.

I sincerely believe that at some point fairly soon we're going to start seeing people transitioning to a nocturnal way of life, working at night when it's cooler and hiding from the noon sun in the most insulated place they can find. Like basements, earthship houses, underground resting rooms.

There are going to be places where it's just not possible to work during the day no matter how much the bosses abuse the workers. At some point physics will just knock you down.