Use of air conditioning set to soar worldwide

Miami

THE use of air conditioning may rise dramatically by the end of the century, requiring far more electricity and sending pollutants into the atmosphere at unprecedented rates, researchers warned on Monday.

Refrigerators and air conditioners release hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), which can be thousands of times more potent than carbon dioxide when it comes to trapping greenhouse gases in the atmosphere and leading to global warming.