July 2023 may go down in history as the moment when humanity finally realizes the dire consequences of our dependence on fossil fuels. As you prepare to live in a burning world where extreme weather events are increasingly common, it may be time to consider adaptations such as living underground.

Surrounded by masses of rock and soil that absorb and retain heat, temperatures can remain much more stable without the need for energy-intensive air conditioning or heating. Not only is it possible to live underground, humans (and animals!) have lived comfortably underground throughout history. But is this a viable solution to the new climate crisis?

white man in a hole

In the South Australian opal mining town of Coober Pedy, 60 percent of the population uses this effect by living underground. The name Coober Pedy comes from the Aboriginal idiom cup piti, meaning “white man in the hole”. During hot 52°C (126°F) summers and freezing 2°C (36°F) winters, their “dungeon” maintains a constant temperature of 23°C (73°F).

Above ground, the summer heat can cause birds to fall from the sky and burn electronic devices. But underground, many residents have cozy living rooms, swimming pools and rather luxurious rooms with as much space as they want to carve.

Buildings must be at least 2.5 meters below the surface to prevent the roof from collapsing. Despite this arrangement, collapses occur from time to time. In the 1960s and 1970s, locals dug holes in the ground with pickaxes and explosives. Today, they use industrial tools for earthworks, but sometimes the work is still done by hand. Because sandstone and siltstone are soft enough to scratch with a utility knife, it doesn’t take much time to cut large chunks of rock.

Sometimes even home renovations make a profit; a man found an opal worth A$1.5 million ($980,000) while installing a shower. From time to time, people accidentally break into their neighbors’ houses. But overall, underground maximizes privacy.

The lost city Derinkuyu

In 1963, an unnamed Turk was repairing his house in Cappadocia when he hit the basement wall with a sledgehammer. After discovering that his chickens were constantly getting lost in the pit, he began to explore more and discovered a vast maze of underground tunnels. He found the lost city of Derinkuyu.

Built as early as 2000 BC, the 18-story tunnel network reaches 76 meters below the surface with 15,000 shafts to provide light and ventilation to the labyrinth of churches, barns, warehouses and homes built to house 20,000 people. It is believed that Derinkuyu has been used as a wartime shelter almost continuously for thousands of years. However, it was abruptly abandoned in the 1920s after the genocide and the forced expulsion of Greek Orthodox Christians from the country.

Although the outside temperature of Cappadocia ranges from 0°C (32°F) in winter to 30°C (86°F) in summer, the temperature of the underground city is as cold as 13°C (55°F). Like Coober Pedy, bedrock is flexible and the soil has very little moisture, which simplifies tunnel construction.

Refuge or hell?

While most people are willing to go underground for a short time, the idea of ​​living underground permanently is much harder on people’s stomachs. The underworld is synonymous with death in many cultures. Being underground in a confined space can cause claustrophobia, fear of poor ventilation and collapse.

“We don’t belong there … Biologically, physiologically, our bodies are not designed to live underground,” Will Hunt, author of “Underground: The Human History of the Worlds Beneath Our Feet,” told Live Science.

People who live underground for too long without daylight can sleep up to 30 hours at a time. Violation of circadian rhythms can cause a number of health problems. Another risk to underground life is flash flooding, which is particularly worrying as climate change promises to bring more extreme weather events such as hurricanes.

The homeless have drowned several times in tunnels under Las Vegas. About 1,500 people live in these tunnels, and they were built to drain rainwater. They can fill up with water in a few minutes and people don’t have time to evacuate. Underground construction often requires heavier and more expensive materials that can withstand the pressure underground. These forces must also be measured through extensive geological surveys before excavation begins.

Underground temperature is also affected by what happens above ground.

A study in the Chicago Loop business district found that temperatures have increased significantly since the 1950s as more thermal infrastructure such as parking stations, trains and basements has been built in the same area. For an underground environment to be acceptable to humans, it must be safe, receive natural light, well ventilated, and provide a sense of connection to the world around it.

Montreal’s 20-mile underground city called RÉSO embodies this ideal. The complex combines buildings for people to avoid the sub-zero temperatures outside. The area consists of offices, shops, hotels and schools that blend perfectly with the above ground environment. Climate change has already led to dangerous temperatures in parts of Iran, Pakistan and India. If the planet continues to boil, maybe we’ll consider building earth vaults rather than skyscrapers? Source