analysis CNA Lifestyle
article unpublished cna article athen published again
As Singapore gets hotter, more people turn to air-conditioning for relief, further heating the planet in a vicious cycle. Air-cons are not the only go-to solution for extreme temperatures, say SUSS’ Ziwen Liu, BCA’s Guang Yu Jin and BLEMS’ Xiangjing Zhang.
Former US President Donald Trump (left) and US President Joe Biden. (File Photos: Reuters/David Dee Delgado, Shannon Stapleton)
SINGAPORE: The heat in Singapore is back with a vengeance - again. Year in, year out, we complain about how hot the weather is, then speed-walk to the nearest shaded area or air-conditioned location to get some relief.
The heat is not going anywhere. In fact, it’s only going to get worse. Last year was Singapore’s fourth-warmest year on record, and researchers are projecting even hotter temperatures in the months and years to come.
By the end of the century, Singapore could face up to 351 “very hot” days a year, where temperatures exceed 35 degrees Celsius. Days with peak temperatures of 40 degrees Celsius may appear as early as 2045, Minister for Sustainability and the Environment Grace Fu told parliament in 2022.
Singapore's founding father, Mr Lee Kuan Yew, considered air-conditioning one of the greatest inventions, saying it “changed the nature of civilisation by making development possible in the tropic”. “Without air-conditioning, you can work only in the cool early-morning hours or at dusk,” he was quoted as saying.
This love of air-con has led to a significant rise in household electricity consumption - 17 per cent in one decade, according to a National Environment Agency survey in 2017. Air-conditioning alone accounts for about 24 per cent of an average household’s electricity consumption.
