India’s ACs Cool Homes And Are A Hot Problem

The ozone hole is healing. The layer that shields us from the sun’s deadly UV rays was severely damaged by chemicals like chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) and hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs), once widely used as refrigerants in air-conditioners and refrigerators.

Thanks to the Montreal Protocol, these chemicals will be phased out globally by 2030. Scientists now predict that the ozone layer will fully recover by 2066, saving millions of lives from skin cancer.
Yet, as one crisis recedes, another is fast unfolding – this time caused by the new refrigerants that replaced CFCs and HCFCs. The coolants we use today – hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) – are hundreds of times more potent than carbon dioxide (CO₂) in heating the climate.

And in India, we are leaking them recklessly from our room air-conditioners (RACs).