Summary
The article discusses the challenges of keeping cool in a warming climate, highlighting the need for new cooling technologies. It explains the problems with traditional cooling systems and explores potential alternatives, like using solid materials instead of liquid refrigerants.
Key Facts
- Climate change is making heat more intense, affecting daily life and work, especially for outdoor workers.
- Refrigerants in traditional cooling systems can leak and are harmful to the environment.
- Current refrigerants, such as hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), contribute significantly to global warming.
- New refrigerants have issues, like being flammable or toxic, but are seen as necessary for the time being.
- Some scientists are developing cooling technologies that do not use liquid refrigerants.
- Solid-state cooling is one promising technology, using solid materials and forces like magnets to change temperatures.
- Magnotherm, a German company, is exploring magnetic cooling systems that are safe and efficient.
- The cooling market is expected to grow rapidly, potentially doubling by 2030, due to rising global temperatures.
