Europe is in the grips of an unusually hot summer and few residents there have air conditioning. Given the ubiquity of AC in the US, I was a bit puzzled at first. Why wouldn’t Europeans have embraced this essential (to many of us) technology?
It occurred me that some European cities are farther north than many US cities. I had a vague idea about London’s latitude, but not much more. A brief search was all it took:
There’s the answer, right there on the map. Most of those cities likely have never needed the AC so common here.
A CNN article provided further explanations:
… nearly 90% of US homes have air conditioning, in Europe it’s around 20%.
Energy costs in many European countries are higher than in the US, while incomes tend to be lower.
In England, which has just endured its hottest June on record, one in six homes were built before 1900.
It can be harder to outfit older homes with central cooling systems, although far from impossible …
UK authorities will often reject applications to install AC “on the basis of the visual appearance of the outdoor condenser unit, especially in conservation areas or on listed buildings …”
Not only are air conditioners energy guzzlers, but they also push heat outside. A study looking at AC use in Paris found they could increase the outside temperature between about 2 and 4 degrees Celsius (3.6 to 7.2 Fahrenheit). This impact is especially severe in Europe’s generally dense cities.
So what kind of heat are we talking about? Although the latest heat dome is moving east out of Europe, heat warnings were still in place Friday. France expected to peak at 102°-106°F. Germany was preparing for 97°-106°F. Southeast England, 96.8°F. Much of Spain, 100°F.
In comparison, the normal summer temperature range in Europe is 65°-82°F.
I’d have been looking for my AC before it hit 80°F outside. And currently, it’s 95°F here in Greater Denver. I see a lot of power outages on the power company’s map …
Global warming? What global warming?
Ain’t it the truth ?! 🙁
And yet, another reason they don’t have a lot of AC is their commitment to not adding to the global warming problem. While I appreciate their sacrifice for the cause, conditions like that would probably kill me.
Good thing you’re not in Oz, Colorado ! 🙂
yes, that’s exactly why and it makes sense
They don’t have AC so as not to add to global warming, and then a heat wave likely spawned in part by global warming does this to them. A no-win situation in which we may all find ourselves one day. 🙁
and window screens. In England they don’t have windows screens. My UK relatives think it’s odd that we have them. Also very few people even own a fan. It simply wouldn’t occur to most in Europe, but most of our English family that’s visited us here in the states get it and have all bought fans for the really hot days. From their stories, buying an electric can be a bit of a challenge as few stores carry them. Most often they order them online.
When we where in London two weeks ago we found more hotels are starting to retrofit for A/C — easier to do on a large commercial building than your average European home. The other thing to consider is that the average home in the UK and UK are much smaller than in the US — there isn’t a lot of room for A/C equipment.
I can’t imagine it being hot enough to require open windows, but not having screens on said windows. Even with the normally moderate temperatures there, I’d still want screens on open windows.
Certainly makes sense for the hotels to add AC if possible if they want the tourists to keep coming.
Folks I know in central and northern California also lack A/C. All the reasons cited are perfectly valid but of course, they become less so as global warming makes its effects felt. That may change things over time, so that the Euros will be able to do their part in … wait for it … further exacerbating global warming!
We lived in many parts of Europe (France, Germany, “Yugoslavia,” Turkey) and visited others none of those countries have a/c OR window screens in homes. How much better it would be if world leaders would take warming seriously1
The evidence of global warming is everywhere, but apparently it’s not politically expedient for some leaders to admit it. I dream of the day when rising seas flood their beachfront homes.
Thanks for the map overlay. I knew the reasons (especially global warming) for their lack of AC, but never realized exactly where some of the cities would be located if they were in the US. I knew New York City and Rome were on about the same parallel. –Nan
I was delighted to find the map. I’d started by just looking for a world or North Atlantic map with latitude lines on it, but found this map first.
Latitude is not the whole story here. European weather is strongly affected by the gulf stream which loops north towards Iceland and thence to them, carrying cold. Given the unprecedented heat wave over there, I’m wondering about the stream’s stability. Seems to me that’s one of the concerns of climate scientists.
Here is an image of the stream.
https://www.istockphoto.com/vector/map-of-the-gulf-stream-with-its-northern-extension-north-atlantic-drift-gm2007153175-560561357
I’d not given much thought to the Gulf Stream’s effect on Europe. Have mostly read about how it’s a conveyor belt that will be disrupted as Arctic ice melts, adding cool, fresh water, which is lighter than warm salt water, etc, etc. Mess up the Gulf Stream and there will be all kinds of climate disruptions. Meanwhile, a heat dome is settling in here and the next week looks not fun.
We have warnings constantly on our phones about a heat wave starting Monday afternoon. Heat index values up to 105 are possible in the afternoon and early evening hours.
I feel for those going through it right now…the lack of air-conditioning available is hard for us to comprehend, I don’t handle heat well, so I’d be in big trouble.
Every summer when we hit the high humidity and high temperature days, the minute I step through the door I say, “thank God for whoever invented air-conditioning.”
My hero…
Willis Haviland Carrier gets credit for designing the first modern air-conditioning system in July 17, 1902.
Sounds like the same heat dome we’re being warned about. At least we don’t have your humidity … but then, you don’t have our current widespread wildfires.
I can’t do heat either; if it’s cold, you can always put on more layers, but if it’s hot, there’s only so much you can take off.
Thank you, Mr. Carrier!
It’s kind of the same here in Canada — we have a modern infrastructure, so home and work are mostly A/C compatible, but our elementary and secondary schools are mostly older and not A/C friendly. The elementary school I went to didn’t even have windows in most of the classrooms. The general idea was that Canada’s winters, spring, and fall, are all relatively cool. But Climate Change / Global Warming has definitely made that idea a thing of the past.
We can get some pretty nasty heat here, on occasion, and sadly, many of our schools are old and not air conditioned. One by one they are being retrofitted with AC, but a number are still lacking. I well remember attending schools in Oklahoma with no AC and it was so hard to concentrate and pay attention.
You’re right, I’ve never thought about heat ever being a problem in Canada. How bad does it have to get before leaders and influencers realize global warming is real and requires immediate, urgent action?