An air-conditioner is a wonderful invention, but it does have some side effects. Air conditioning has several negative impacts on the environment. There are also health risks associated with AC's that you should be aware of.
A lot of people don't know about these side effects, which prevents them from taking action to reduce their impact on the environment or safeguarding their health. If you want to learn more about how to protect yourself against this risk, read this article, which I hope will help you understand all aspects of this issue so that you can make an educated decision for yourself!
1)It Spreads Germs
As bizarre as it may seem at first thought giving your hot and sweaty body a blast of cold air feels great. But when you really think about it, not so much. Not only does this practice cool off the outside of your body, but it also decreases the temperature of your throat and sinuses. This opens up your airways to all kinds of germs that you don't want to creep in there!
2) Air Conditioning is Bad for Your Skin
As anyone who has ever sat next to a window on a cold winter's day knows skin freezes at 28 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 2 degrees Celsius).
Colder temperatures can lead to frostbite, which causes blood vessels to shrink. This reduces the flow of oxygen and nutrients to tissues in order to keep our core temperature up. When we use artificial heat or go into an air-conditioned environment, this numbs our nerves which reduces our sensation of pain. This can lead to frostbite-like symptoms without any actual damage occurring because you don't realize that something is wrong until it's too late.
3) Nature of Human
We Need Nature Humans are the only species on this planet to build structures specifically designed for keeping us away from nature. We are also the only species who have built air-conditioners which create a nice buffer between us and the heat outside during summertime. Living with AC has disconnected us from our natural environment in more than one way, making environmental problems even worse than they would be otherwise!
4) Air Conditioning Increases Your Utility Bills
By using your air conditioning unit at home or work, you are using more electricity than necessary for your comfort. Indeed, the more power it takes to cool down an area, the higher your electricity bills will be. If this money is instead invested in green energy sources like solar panels or wind turbines, you would make a positive impact on the environment!
5) Air Conditioning Affects Your Health
A study conducted at the University of California shows that building occupants whose offices were cooled had significantly worse symptoms of respiratory illness than those who worked in non-AC-conditioned spaces. Symptoms included headaches, increased mucus production, and lingering cold symptoms.
This is because when we decrease our internal body temperature by artificially cooling ourselves outside, it causes blood vessels near our skin to dilate which leaves less blood available for our organs, which can cause problems with high blood pressure and other cardiovascular issues.
Also, when we cool ourselves down externally it slows down our immune system and makes us more susceptible to heating up from other sources such as someone who is smoking while we talk to them
6) Air Conditioning is Bad for Your Health in General
The air conditioner unit emits a multitude of chemicals straight into the air: Freon, nitrogen dioxide, and ozone. The first two will circulate throughout your home or office while the latter contributes to smog and eventually acid rain. This causes respiratory diseases that include asthma. These compounds also play a role in global warming by trapping heat within the atmosphere.
7) Air Conditioning Uses Harmful Chemicals
As if the air conditioning wasn't already dangerous enough, it also contains harmful chemicals. The main problem with the chemical Freon is that it takes decades for this compound to decompose after being ejected into the atmosphere, which causes ozone depletion.
It's also considered a greenhouse gas because it traps heat within our atmosphere instead of letting it radiate back off into space.
8) Air Conditioning Can Cause Death
Because air conditioners remove humidity from the air while cooling, they can create an extremely dry environment in your home or business. If you aren't properly humidified and hydrated, this can lead to difficulty breathing and even death! People with asthma or other respiratory problems would be at higher risk of dying from exposure to such conditions since their bodies cannot handle the change as well.
9) Air Conditioning Uses Up to 4,000% More Electricity
Than Heating AC uses up to 4,000% more energy than heating by itself. This is even worse if you compare AC against a heat pump that heats and cools your home! Granted, this number can vary depending on where you live but it's still evidence that heat pumps are both cheaper and healthier for the environment.
Furthermore, air conditioners use electricity all year round while heat pumps only work during certain seasons of the year since they rely on outdoor temperatures.
Also, because air conditions remove humidity from your home or office space, you're likely to remain damp all winter long which creates a perfect breeding ground for mold development that can trigger allergies.
10) Air Conditioning Can Actually Make You Hotter!
In addition to the fact that air conditioners can actually make you more susceptible to catching a cold or an infection from somebody who is sick, they also have the ability to make you feel hotter than you really are! This happens because when we artificially cool ourselves down, our bodies think it's time for winter and begins to conserve heat by slowing down blood circulation in certain areas of our body.
As with every action in life, using air conditioning has a potential risk attached to it. In this case, several health risks were outlined along with some tips on how to avoid them. The introduction highlighted how modern-day life is incomplete without cooling systems inside houses and office buildings.
This introduction also gave a brief introduction on the chemicals that are emitted from the cooling units and their effect on human health. The author wrote about several different side effects of using air conditioning, some of which include increased blood pressure, decreased immune system function, lower production of red blood corpuscles, cardiac arrhythmias and so much more.
In conclusion,
the author urged readers to use an alternate method for cooling down their environment such as portable fans or by installing a heat pump instead of using an AC unit since they consume less energy and have less harmful effects on the environment. In addition, the author told people that it is important to keep humidity levels at a moderate level, hydrate themselves properly and stay protected against colds while consuming their favorite beverages.
The introduction of this article was great, it had a lot of information about the bad effects of AC units and I was happy to see the author recommended alternate methods for reducing the temperature in an area. This introduction certainly made me want to read on since air-conditioning is something that is needed sometimes but not always wanted.
The introduction also included some small bullet points giving readers an overview of what they will learn throughout this article which I found very helpful since it allowed for quick skimming if one preferred that option over reading every word in its entirety. The author wrote about several different side effects of using air conditioning, some of which include increased blood pressure, decreased immune system function, lower production of red blood corpuscles, cardiac arrhythmias and so much more.
In conclusion, the author urged readers to use an alternate method for cooling down their environment such as portable fans or by installing a heat pump instead of using an AC unit since they consume less energy and have less harmful effects on the environment. In addition, the author told people that it is important to keep humidity levels at a moderate level, hydrate themselves properly and stay protected against colds while consuming their favorite beverages.
The introduction of this article was great, it had a lot of information about the bad effects of AC units and I was happy to see the author recommended alternate methods for reducing the temperature in an area. This introduction certainly made me want to read on since air-conditioning is something that is needed sometimes but not always wanted. The introduction also included some small bullet points giving readers an overview of what they will learn throughout this article which I found very helpful since it allowed for quick skimming if one preferred that option over reading every word in its entirety.
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