Domestic environments, urban air and climate change

Abstract

Climate change and the pandemic, each in its own way, has powerfully drawn our attention to the imbrication of human lives with non-humans. In this article, I attempt to address these linkages through a focus on energy use and environment in Indian cities, especially in domestic settings. The introduction section of the article presents its background. The second section discusses weather and the colonial science of climatology in thinking about ventilation and thermal comfort, and ends with an account of air conditioning in Indian cities. The third section offers a history of efforts at mitigating indoor air pollution through a transition in energy use from biomass to the use of gas and electricity. In conclusion, I draw attention to the translation that is involved in thinking about energy, urbanism and climate change historically and in the contemporary period.