Korea's sizzling summer

By John Burton

Korea is not the only country to suffer record high temperatures this summer. A global heat wave is taking its toll on other regions ranging from North America and Scandinavia to the African Sahel and South Asia.

What makes Korea interesting, however, is that it serves as a microcosm for the impact that extreme temperatures can have on both developed and developing countries. The Korean peninsula is one of the few areas where an advanced economy (South Korea) sits next door to a developing one (North Korea).

A new report, "Chilling Prospects: Providing Sustainable Cooling for All," (www.seforall.org/CoolingForAll/report) outlines the problems that countries face as temperatures continue to rise around the world. The report was issued by Sustainable Energy for All, a U.N.-affiliated organization that was launched in 2011 by then U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to promote universal access to energy by 2030 as one of the U.N.'s sustainable development goals.

An estimated 1.1 billion people ― one-seventh of the world's population ― are at immediate and significant risk of suffering from high temperatures due to a lack of access to cooling systems, according to the report. The most obvious problem is the death rate caused by heat in areas that do not have access to air conditioning or even electric fans.

Heat waves already kill an estimate 12,000 people annually around the world. The World Health Organization forecasts the annual death rate from heat could rise to 92,000 by 2030 and 255,000 by 2050 if trends remain unchecked. But a bigger risk to lives comes from the lack of cooling technology to preserve medicine and food in hot climates.

A related problem is that as global incomes rise, more people will want to buy air conditioners or refrigerators. But the resulting higher electricity demand could accelerate global warming if it is powered by fossil fuels or if the devices are energy inefficient.

The deleterious impact of cheap and inefficient air conditioners can be seen in the U.S., which alone consumes as much electricity for its air conditioners as the total amount of electricity used by Africa's population of nearly 1.3 billion people.

There is a prospect of a vicious cycle where a warming planet creates the need for more cooling that would result in more greenhouse gas emissions that cause global warming. It is estimated that cooling is now responsible for about 10 percent of global warming and its share is growing rapidly.

We are seeing some of these trends during Korea's heat wave. At least 29 people have died from the heat in South Korea and around 2,350 people are being treated for heat-related illnesses as temperatures climb to more than 40 degrees Celsius.

As more Koreans switch on their air conditioners, energy demand is peaking, which is raising concerns about massive electricity shortages. Blackouts have already been reported in several major cities, with a couple of mothballed nuclear plants being called back into service.

The situation may be far more difficult in North Korea. North Koreans generally lack air conditioning, and electricity supplies can be intermittent. People are reportedly seeking relief by bathing in rivers.

Moreover, the heat is imposing new strains on medical services, particularly in rural areas, which are already suffering from a lack of medicine and vaccines.

North Korea has warned that the "unprecedented" heat as well as a drought threatens the autumn harvest of crops, such as rice and maize, in a country where much of the population is malnourished. Lack of irrigation systems is contributing to the problem.

These conditions resemble those in much of the developing world that suffer food wastage and damaged vaccines due to the lack of affordable and efficient cooling systems.

The challenge is to develop efficient but affordable cooling systems that do not threaten to increase global warming. This provides a business opportunity for Samsung and LG, which are among the world's biggest producers of air conditioners and refrigerators.

Both corporate groups have said they are developing less harmful refrigerants and improving cooling efficiency through Internet of Things technologies among other measures to cut greenhouse emissions. But a future focus should be on developing cooling systems that are affordable for poor urban and rural populations around the world.

International pressure on the cooling industry will continue to grow. In 2016, nearly 200 nations endorsed the Kigali Amendment to the Montreal Protocol to reduce the use of coolants and refrigerants that damage the ozone. South Korea has yet to ratify the amendment formally, although North Korea has been among the two dozen nations that already have.

Meanwhile, Seoul and other Korean concrete jungles can prevent the effects of future heat waves by taking simple measures such as painting roofs white to reflect sunlight or planting vegetation on roofs to cut urban temperatures. Relief from the heat is within reach.

John Burton (johnburtonft@yahoo.com), a former Korea correspondent for the Financial Times, is now a Washington, D.C.-based journalist and consultant.