Picture this: It’s Tuesday and you’re headed to an All-School Meeting with a woman who is breaking down barriers in the corporate world. As you enter Caswell, a gust of glacial wind hits you. You try to pay attention but can’t help but wonder if the students next to you have also been transported into this tundra. As it turns out, everyone in the room has entered the Arctic. Marlborough, we are in a constant state of frigidity, and we need to start chilling on the chill.
Since the first day of this school year, I’ve noticed the perpetual cold temperatures in all of my classes. Before this year, I wore a skirt almost every day. Now, the feeling of my bare legs on an extremely icy seat has become too uncomfortable to handle. Instead of focusing on the material in my classes, I can’t stop looking at the clock for when I will be unleashed from the cold. This experience is universal among other members of the student body.
“The classrooms are way too cold,” Lily ’25 said. “It’s annoying to have to bring a sweatshirt to school when it’s 80 degrees outside just for me to wear it in classrooms.”
After doing some research, I’ve concluded that our classrooms are too cold for the average woman. According to a study published in 2016 by Nature Climate Change, females prefer an average temperature of 77 degrees Fahrenheit in the office and at home while men prefer a temperature of 71.6 degrees Fahrenheit. This problem dates back to the 1960s when the standard office temperature was created for a 40-year-old, 154-pound man, while women were left frigid at work. At our school, there is no required temperature in classrooms, but a range of 70 to 74 degrees Fahrenheit is suggested. Therefore, it’s no surprise that many students run cold during the school day.
Another reason to curb the low temperatures at our school is to reduce global warming. Air conditioners run on hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), strong greenhouse gasses that trap heat on Earth’s surface.
“The more we run AC, the more electricity we use; more electricity releases more greenhouse gases, heating the planet and requiring even more AC to stay cool,” the National Audubon Society said.
The danger of air conditioning is a familiar topic to me and the other students of AP Environmental Science (APES). The causes and implications of global warming are a key part of the APES curriculum. As I learn about the alarming future of our planet in APES, I can’t ignore the paradox which is the fervent air conditioning blowing in classrooms.
“We are in a climate crisis and it’s immoral that the classrooms are so cold,” Libby ’25 said. “No one needs the classroom to be 60 degrees.”
Libby ’25 exaggerates, but her sentiment still rings true. There is no need to maintain such severe coolness because it’s harming students as well as the environment.
