The Gulf World That Air Conditioning Wrought

Last month, I published a longform article in Noema on how modern air conditioning has reshaped the Arab Gulf and how some have begun to question the technology's tradeoffs even as global temperatures rise due to climate change.

Before modern air conditioning, the Gulf’s locals coexisted with the sun and heat, utilizing local thermal-resistant building materials and architectural and urban design elements that harnessed nature to lower indoor temperatures. During the hotter months, many rested in the afternoons, bathed in the sea or natural springs or retreated to cooler environs.

Modern air conditioning technologies allowed colonial rulers, foreign oil barons and today's ruling families to remake the Gulf into the oil-rich world of mind-bending concrete, glass, and steel towers we know now. However, today's Gulf is also the world’s most unequal region and a top per capita consumer of water and emitter of CO2. Might there be a way to make a new and different Gulf world?

Read the full article at Noema and check out my interview with Mariam AlSaad on global warming and youth-led climate action in Kuwait, part of my series of interviews with climate advocates working in the Middle East and North Africa.