{"id":520296,"date":"2026-06-26T22:59:18","date_gmt":"2026-06-26T22:59:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/520296\/"},"modified":"2026-06-26T22:59:18","modified_gmt":"2026-06-26T22:59:18","slug":"why-europe-cant-air-condition-its-way-out-of-extreme-heat","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/520296\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Europe can’t air condition its way out of extreme heat"},"content":{"rendered":"

Ask people in France about the extreme and deadly heat the continent is going through, and you\u2019ll get some choice phrases.\u00a0<\/p>\n

While \u201cc’est l’enfer sur terre\u201d (it\u2019s hell on earth) captures the intensity, there\u2019s a more common refrain:\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cJe n’ai pas de clim.\u201d (I don\u2019t have air conditioning.)\u00a0<\/p>\n

A 2020 ministry-backed report estimates only a quarter of France\u2019s homes<\/a> have ACs. That\u2019s better than the U.K., where only about 14 per cent of households do,<\/a> based on data that appeared in the Guardian. As a whole, only 20 per cent of Europe has ACs, the IEA says<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Stark, but it is an improvement from 2003, when it\u2019s estimated tens of thousands of people died<\/a> from a late-summer heat wave.\u00a0<\/p>\n

But experts say air conditioning can\u2019t solve this crisis alone, and comes with its own challenges, especially in densely populated urban centres.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"AnThe roofs associated with the image of Paris can be part of unbearable conditions during extreme heat. (Thibaud Moritz\/AFP\/Getty Images)Iconic ovens\u00a0<\/p>\n

The sea of blue-gray roofs in Paris provide a signature look to its canopy, recognized as\u00a0 intangible cultural heritage<\/a>, and protected by law from change.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

But most of them are made of zinc. Add the fact that they\u2019re often un-insulated, with glass windows and the effect for upper-floor residents during a heat wave is like living in an oven, day and night.\u00a0<\/p>\n

WATCH | France’s scorching heat is lasting into the night \u2014 and that comes with health risks:\"\"<\/p>\n

Even overnight temperatures in France broke records, meteorological agency says<\/p>\n

Clare Nullis, spokesperson for the World Meteorological Organization, said Friday that at one point, she didn’t think the agency would be able to keep up with all the heat records in Europe. One town in western France reached a daytime high of 43.8 C, with some areas maintaining record heat into the night, Nullis said.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo, I’m not sleeping well, but I don’t think I’m the only one,\u201d 54-year-old resident Severine Le Beuzit told Reuters this week. \u201cWe’re all in this case, it’s just horrible.”<\/p>\n

Sleep disruption can cause cognitive issues and the heat can feel like running a \u201cmarathon\u201d<\/a> when you\u2019re supposed to be resting.\u00a0<\/p>\n

But while ACs cool the inside, they push the heat somewhere outside.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIn very dense city spaces, air conditioning \u2026 basically transports heat from the buildings to the urban environment and can create an even stronger urban heat island effect,\u201d explains Hans-Martin F\u00fcssel, a climate risk expert at the European Environment Agency.<\/p>\n

The heat gets trapped in the concrete jungle of cities<\/a>, making them radiate more heat, adding several degrees which can be even more unbearable during a heat wave.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"AWhile air conditioner installations are going up in Europe, they can make urban heat worse. (Francois Lo Presti\/AFP\/Getty Images)Power problems<\/p>\n

The added concern about air conditioners is that when powered by a grid that runs on fossil fuels, it can exacerbate human-caused global heating \u2014 which is intensifying heat waves to begin with.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat’s happening under climate change is that many of these extreme events are becoming intensified,\u201d Clair Barnes, research associate at the Grantham Institute for Climate Change and the Environment, told Reuters.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cSo when we have a heat wave, we’re now seeing temperatures in Europe that are two to four degrees higher than would have been the case without human-caused warming.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

WATCH | A heat dome descends on Europe:\"\"<\/p>\n

Deadly heat wave spreads across Europe<\/p>\n

A heat dome covering much of western and central Europe has already killed at least 13 people, including children who drowned while trying to cool off in a river. The lack of air conditioning has forced schools to close and has people searching for ways to stay cool.<\/p>\n

Even if that power comes from renewables, relying on air conditioning alone is difficult during heat emergencies. Heat waves can also affect power supply to those air conditioners, affecting the efficiency of fossil fuel and renewable energy. <\/p>\n

Consider that nuclear, hydro, wind and solar make up 95 per cent of France\u2019s electricity, according to think-tank Ember Energy. But this Omega-shaped heat dome<\/a> has led to lower wind speed for turbines and less cool water<\/a> available for nuclear plants, resulting in reduced power output and higher wholesale electricity prices.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"GreenA man stands in the shade of trees on the River Garonne banks in Toulouse, south-western France on Wednesday as a heat wave hits France. (Lionel Bonaventure\/AFP\/Getty Images)Solutions known, implementation lagging\u00a0<\/p>\n

This heat has killed more than 250 people in the last week, both directly and indirectly, from heatstroke, drowning while seeking relief and, tragically, children being left in cars. It\u2019s also delayed medical help in some cases, such as when MRI scanners were knocked offline<\/a> by the heat and humidity.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

St\u00e9phanie Rist, France\u2019s minister of health, says there are 30 per cent more calls to emergency medical services.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWe know that every heat wave leads to excess mortality. We also know that preventive measures can prevent deaths,\u201d she told reporters in French on Thursday, outside a hospital southwest of Paris.\u00a0<\/p>\n

WATCH | Record-breaking heat wave:\"\"<\/p>\n

U.K. sets new June heat record as Europe continues to bake<\/p>\n

The U.K. set a new June heat record of 36.1 C in parts of southern England on Wednesday as a heat dome continues to bake much of Western Europe. An estimated 94 million people are enduring temperatures above 35 C.<\/p>\n

F\u00fcssel, at the European Environment Agency, says progress has been made, at least in understanding the solutions needed.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIt’s not rocket science to come up with solutions, but of course, the implementation can be difficult,\u201d F\u00fcssel told CBC News from Copenhagen. He says solutions need to involve greening city spaces, creating designated cool zones, and making sure emergency and health officials schedule their vacations differently during potential periods of extreme heat. And yes, even air conditioning.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cAir conditioning can be a solution if it’s done in the right way,\u201d he said, though warns that renters across Europe don\u2019t necessarily have control over their living spaces.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThe ones who would benefit from it are not always the ones who can take the decision to implement it.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Ask people in France about the extreme and deadly heat the continent is going through, and you\u2019ll get…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":520297,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[246,61,60,82],"class_list":["post-520296","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-environment","tag-environment","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-science"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/520296","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=520296"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/520296\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/520297"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=520296"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=520296"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=520296"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}