From Saudi Arabia to Qatar, rulers have used modern air conditioning to control landscapes and lives, forgoing traditional methods of keeping cool.
As climate change drives regional temperatures higher, and CO2-emitting climate control technologies contribute to the problem, some climate advocates, architects and researchers have begun to ask whether reducing the Gulf’s reliance on mechanical cooling could better help it weatherproof its future. The idea is not far-fetched; it’s rooted in traditions of the past. Yet, in today’s world of fossil-fueled air-conditioned comfort, it can be easy to forget that life was not always this way.
https://www.noemamag.com/the-gulf-world-that-air-conditioning-wrought