{"id":72550,"date":"2025-08-17T04:12:07","date_gmt":"2025-08-17T04:12:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/72550\/"},"modified":"2025-08-17T04:12:07","modified_gmt":"2025-08-17T04:12:07","slug":"a-serious-threat-to-economic-competitiveness","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/72550\/","title":{"rendered":"‘A serious threat to economic competitiveness’"},"content":{"rendered":"

A climate tech executive writing for Fortune<\/a> warned of a rising disparity between Europe and the United States, contrasting a putative commuter’s experience in the hot and “sticky” former environment with that of an American in “optimized” conditions.<\/p>\n

“The fundamental difference between these two realities? Air conditioning,” author Taco Engelaar said.<\/p>\n

America’s broadly air-conditioned landscape and Europe’s relative absence<\/a> of the technology have been a perpetual topic of debate on social media for years. As temperatures in the U.K. soared and triggered water restrictions, the topic was revived on platforms and in the news.<\/p>\n

As it relates to an overall warming planet, air conditioning occupies a strange space. On one hand, there are valid concerns about a corresponding increase in emissions for more widespread adoption of air-conditioned environments.<\/p>\n

However, extreme heat is a form of extreme weather, and as Engelaar noted, Europe is warming faster<\/a> than any other continent. Heatwaves and record-breaking temperatures cause much of the day-to-day life to grind to a halt amid previously rare high temperatures.<\/p>\n

“This climate vulnerability isn’t just inconvenient, it’s a serious threat to economic competitiveness,” Engelaar wrote.<\/p>\n

The issue isn’t as simple<\/a> as fitting homes, workplaces, and public areas with air conditioners, either, he added. Upgrades to the energy grid and broader infrastructure are needed, Engelaar observed, citing recent blackouts during a heatwave in Italy and a frustrating contradiction.<\/p>\n

“It’s a deep irony that the vast quantities of solar power brought about by hotter, drier summers \u2014 which could unlock AC capabilities without creating a new carbon burden \u2014 can’t be properly harnessed due to grid connection delays,” he lamented.<\/p>\n

Comfort and the ability to engage in daily life are frequently the center of discussions about Europe’s soaring average temperatures and air conditioning, but extreme heat is incredibly dangerous<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Nearly half a million<\/a> people die worldwide each year due to heat-related illness, causing over 175,000 deaths in Europe<\/a> annually, underscoring the necessity of understanding climate-related issues<\/a>.<\/p>\n

“In the European region, heat stress is the leading cause of climate-related death in the region,” said<\/a> World Health Organization Regional Director Dr. Hans Kluge.<\/p>\n

Although it’s not an overnight solution, transitioning to renewable energy will go a long way in mitigating concerns<\/a> about air conditioning<\/a> and emissions, and increased adoption of solar energy is \u2014 as Engelaar pointed out \u2014 likely to ease a necessary or even inevitable transition.<\/p>\n

In April, the World Economic Forum reported<\/a> that more than 40% of the world’s electricity was generated by renewables<\/a> in 2024.<\/p>\n

Ultimately, air conditioning is among the “most effective and lifesaving methods of adaptation to a changing climate,” Dr. Cory Franklin wrote in a Chicago Tribune editorial<\/a> advocating for increased adoption of the technology as a life-saving measure.<\/p>\n

“Human-made efforts to reduce greenhouse gases are essential, but human-made efforts to adapt to weather extremes would have lifesaving consequences more immediately,” Franklin concluded.<\/p>\n

Join our free newsletter<\/a> for good news and useful tips, and don’t miss this cool list<\/a> of easy ways to help yourself while helping the planet.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A climate tech executive writing for Fortune warned of a rising disparity between Europe and the United States,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":72551,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[37319,84,1294,591,56,54,55],"class_list":{"0":"post-72550","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-economy","8":"tag-air-conditioning","9":"tag-business","10":"tag-economy","11":"tag-europe","12":"tag-uk","13":"tag-united-kingdom","14":"tag-unitedkingdom"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/72550","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=72550"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/72550\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/72551"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=72550"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=72550"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=72550"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}