Rising Temperatures and Air Conditioning Adoption
As temperatures soared to an unprecedented 41.7C (107F) in eastern Brandenburg on Sunday, marking a new high for Germany, Mario, 65, took measured precautions without panic. Two years prior, a severe heatwave motivated him to purchase an air conditioning unit, a rarity in German households.
“The summers are slowly getting warmer,”
“And as you get older, the heat gets harder to endure.”
Mario, a retired handyman residing in Neuzelle near the German-Polish border, now lives in one of the approximately 6% of German homes equipped with fixed air conditioning.
Europe is currently grappling with record-breaking heatwaves, and as it prepares for further temperature rises, the continent's limited air conditioning infrastructure has drawn criticism. Governments have been slow to promote air conditioning, sparking a cultural debate that has frustrated health experts. These experts advocate for increased air conditioning access for vulnerable populations but express caution regarding widespread use in private residences.
Balancing Long-Term Solutions and Mechanical Cooling
Hans Kluge, head of the World Health Organization’s (WHO) European office, emphasizes a balanced approach.
“Much of Europe’s investment has rightly gone into longer-term solutions like shade, insulation and cooling centres, rather than mechanical cooling,”
“Both have a role.”
Adaptation efforts have reduced death tolls by 75% for heat levels once considered extreme two decades ago. However, heatwaves have intensified during this period. WHO estimates indicate that over 200,000 people have died from heat in Europe in the past four years, prompting calls for accelerated action. The ongoing heatwave is expected to result in thousands, potentially tens of thousands, of deaths, surpassing figures in countries like the United States, where air conditioning is present in approximately 90% of homes.
Political Divisions Over Air Conditioning
Expert recommendations to install air conditioning in critical locations such as hospitals, care homes, schools, and public transportation receive broad political support. Nevertheless, recent discourse has been dominated by accusations that mainstream political parties obstruct air conditioning expansion to protect environmental goals.
Following Germany’s record-breaking heat, Marc Bernhard, construction spokesperson for the far-right Alternative für Deutschland (AfD), declared his party’s intent to prevent people from being “sacrificed on the altar” of mainstream climate ideology, including energy efficiency standards.
“Climate hysteria is leading to more heat-related deaths due to ideological construction errors such as abstaining from air conditioning.”
This stance marks a significant shift from the AfD’s position a year earlier when health spokesperson Martin Sichert downplayed heat-related fatalities, dismissing the government’s response as “heat panic.” It also contrasts with the party’s strong opposition to heat pumps, which became a contentious issue for the political right three years ago.
In France, Marine Le Pen’s National Rally, known for opposing energy-efficient building renovations and renewable energy projects such as wind turbines and solar panels, has recently prioritized air conditioning while criticizing policies aimed at mitigating global warming.
International Perspectives and Cultural Differences
The debate in Europe has been further intensified by commentators in the United States who cite Europe’s limited air conditioning use as evidence of overregulation and misguided policies.
“Europeans should just install air conditioning,”
“The American approach to summer was correct all along.”
This sentiment was expressed in a chatbot-generated text on X (formerly Twitter) that was amplified by Elon Musk and viewed nearly 20 million times.
While air conditioning is common in wealthy countries such as the US, Japan, and Australia, only about 15% of the 3.5 billion people living in hot regions worldwide own air conditioning units. With rising temperatures and incomes, global demand for cooling is expected to increase substantially. The International Energy Agency projects a ninefold increase in air conditioner ownership in Southeast Asia between 2020 and 2040 under current policies.
Environmental and Infrastructure Considerations
Experts acknowledge drawbacks to air conditioning use. The expulsion of hot air into urban environments can exacerbate the urban heat island effect, and increased energy consumption raises the risk of power outages. However, in Europe, the climate impact of air conditioning is relatively small and anticipated to diminish further as fossil fuel use for electricity generation falls below 30%. More than a dozen European countries plan to eliminate fossil fuels from their power grids within the next decade.
Although some planning regulations complicate air conditioning installation in private homes, evidence suggests that bureaucratic hurdles or climate concerns are not the primary reasons for low adoption rates across Europe.
Regional Variations in Air Conditioning Use
Europe’s warming climate, which has caused the continent to heat at twice the global average rate, has led to increased mechanical cooling in its warmest areas. In Italy and Spain, over half of households now have air conditioning. France has seen growth to 24% overall, with southern provinces reaching up to 48%, while northern regions remain as low as 10%.
Germany exhibits some of the lowest air conditioning adoption rates in Europe, partly due to a high proportion of renters. Some homeowners, like Gabriele Werner from Neuzelle, near the weekend’s peak heat, feel that even record-breaking temperatures in June were insufficient to justify purchasing air conditioning.
“We’d consider getting air conditioning if the summers keep getting hotter, but when it’s just a few days we can bear it,”
“We can bear it.”
Public Attitudes and Climate Change Perceptions
During visits to Neuzelle and the neighboring district of Neißemünde, where nearly half the electorate supported the AfD in the last election, responses to the extreme heat ranged from indifference to outright denial.
“Climate change is just a word that gets trumpeted,”
“Back when I was a child, it was also warm. It just wasn’t played up.”
These remarks came from Reinhard Lange, a retired electrician living near Coschen, the location of the provisional national heat record.
Health Responses and Future Priorities
Kluge credits Europe’s robust emergency response during the recent heatwave—such as red alerts, school closures, and rapid establishment of cooling centers—with saving lives. However, he emphasizes the need for improved outreach to isolated elderly individuals, who constitute the majority of heat-related fatalities.
“The priority now is ensuring AC reaches people for whom it’s a medical necessity, while continuing to build out the infrastructure – trees, green roofs, cooler buildings – that protects everyone, including people who simply can’t fit a unit in their home.”
Some experts advocate for air conditioning in social housing to address growing inequalities between those with and without cooling access, as well as to mitigate energy demands that may harm society.
Dr Chloe Brimicombe, a climate scientist at Oxford University specializing in extreme heat, highlights competing priorities during heatwaves.
“We are currently focusing a lot of our energy and water resources during heatwaves on cooling data centres,”
“Lives are more valuable to us than AI – or at least they should be, right?”
