News Reporter: Climate Coach: How expensive is your AC?

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Climate Coach
Down-to-earth advice for life on our changing planet.

By Michael J. Coren

Welcome. This week, trash trolls and "Category 6" hurricanes. But first, how expensive is your AC?

Air conditioning is becoming a lifeline in the summer.

But it will not come cheap. The Washington Post's Shannon Osaka broke down why our air conditioning bills are soaring. Rising electricity prices are one culprit: U.S. electricity rates have spiked in states such as California, growing more than than 5 percent annually since 2010.

But the biggest one? The challenges that air conditioners face when the gap between indoor and outdoor temperatures widens.

As it turns out, energy demand increases exponentially as the gap widens.

If you set your thermostat to 75 degrees, for example, your air conditioner must work four times harder to cool off outside air at 95 degrees than at a mere 85 degrees. As temperatures rise, this will strain our overtaxed grid — and budgets. Utility bills are set to claim an even greater share of lower- and middle-class incomes in the United States: 1 in every 7 households spend on average 14 percent of their income on electricity and fuel, reports RMI, an environmental nonprofit.

And if you don't think you need much air conditioning today, that may soon change. The Post analyzed decades of weather data to find how many days each summer required AC across the continental United States today, and how that's likely to change in the future.

During the early 1980s, 66 percent of days between July through September required AC to maintain comfortable temperatures, based on data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Today, that stands at about 71 percent, and climate models suggest the figure is expected to reach 87 percent by 2060.

To find out how AC demands are likely to change in your city, search for your city in The Post's tool here

What's your energy burden like to stay cool? Write me with your stories or questions at climatecoach@washpost.com. I read all your emails.

Field Sample

The Key Largo tree cactus is no more in the wild. It's the first plant of its kind to go extinct in the United States from sea-level rise. Battered by high tides and hurricanes, the last stand on Key Largo succumbed to saltwater intrusion from rising seas and soil loss. Sixty Key Largo tree cactuses survive in Florida nurseries, along with more than 1,000 seeds in seed banks. Scientists hope to reintroduce the plant back to the wild — at higher elevation. Read more by Dino Grandoni here.

The Key Largo tree cactus has gone extinct from sea-level rise. (Susan Kolterman)

And Tom Waddington found himself surrounded by a large pod of whales near the Newfoundland coast, while solo rowing across the Atlantic Ocean on July 7.

Instagram @tomwaddington_skier

Snapshot

Thomas Dambo makes giant trolls out of trash. To find their secret lairs, you have go to the woods.

Dambo, a former rap musician and graffiti artist, constructs the heads of his 16-to-42-feet sculptures in a studio, while the rest of his creations are assembled on-site using waste and scrap.

Dambo's works have gone global. There are now 139 outsize trash trolls in 20 countries (and 19 states), most of them hidden in forests for people to find. He estimates there's enough scrap across the country to build two-and-a-half million of them. "My ultimate goal is to have trolls surprising people in every state," said Dambo, whose latest project is in Detroit Lakes, Minn.

Ronny Funny Face is among five trolls Thomas Dambo set up last month around Detroit Lakes, Minn. (Thomas Dambo Art)

On the Climate Front

From The Post:

'Everyone is drinking it': Why this type of 'forever chemical' seems to be everywhere

Should I buy this? A guide to sustainable online shopping.

Officials plan to kill 450,000 invasive owls endangering native spotted owls in the Pacific Northwest.

The U.S. has a plan to protect workers from heat. Employers are fighting it.

From elsewhere:

Fireflies may be threatened by climate change, but the Midwest could see a boost in populations, reports the Chicago Tribune.

Call it what you want, argues a Des Moines Register column, Iowa's climate reckoning is here.

How Project 2025, a controversial conservative road map, would gut climate change and environmental efforts, according to the Hill.

As the oceans overheat, some scientists have called for a new "Category 6" hurricane classification, reports the Guardian.

Lisa Bashert wrote in from Ypsilanti, Mich., about her town's effort to eliminate waste and expand wildlife habitat since the mid 1990s.

"It's been an upward battle, but fortunately my small union town has responded to residents' efforts towards greater sustainability," she says noting Ypsilanti is now a Bee City USA, hosts about a dozen organic community gardens and protects urban agriculture. "My sidewalk/front yard plantings have inspired many people in town to follow suit. We are changing the norm and the look of front gardens!"

What's your town doing? Send me your photos and stories at climatecoach@washpost.com