Comment by tshaddox
1 day ago
I didn’t see anything meme-like in the comment you responded to. Or even anything related to environmentalism. To me, it just looked like good health advice.
1 day ago
I didn’t see anything meme-like in the comment you responded to. Or even anything related to environmentalism. To me, it just looked like good health advice.
In case you don't know, there is a meme in the US that Europe don't know/don't have A/C. We do, but in some coutries there are laws banning A/C below 25°C (77°F) in public places, so (US) tourist don't get the cold air hit when entering a building like a musseum, leaving with the impression we don't know A/C.
No general A/C might be the case in regions that never needed it before (mild summers, cold winters), but their presence is increasing.
It was fairly impossible to find a restaurant in Paris that had an AC not so long time ago. It’s totally not an issue in states.
Heck. The San Francisco Bay Area was largely AC free in my youth (except maybe Walnut Creek).
There are still hardly any, Paris, July '26.
That's because Europeans are more of nonconformists and could deal with some 7 to 10 super hot days in a year. It's now weeks in a row.
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I just toured Europe and none of the lodgings (private dwellings) had AC. It was not fun when it was 35C out. South of Spain is actually one of the most comfiest places to be in summer despite being hotter on average, because many homes have AC due to it being cheap to install (and to my knowledge being run on near complete renewable energy).Some European countries' stance on this is bizarre, like Switzerland outright not allowing residential ACs.
"Switzerland outright not allowing residential ACs": That's not completely true, though. First, mobile/portable ACs are allowed pretty much everywhere in Switzerland, I think. Then, for fixed ACs, it depends in which canton you live. Geneva is the strictest, but in most cantons, fixed ACs are allowed under some conditions. Where I live, 50% of the AC energy must come from renewables (which is pretty easy if you have solar panels). Anyway, with all those recent heat waves, I'm pretty sure those rules will soon be relaxed in all cantons.
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I'm well aware of the memes and discourse on Twitter (although I don't seek it out). My point is that that original comment had none of that. No calling people "europoor." Just important advice delivered unsensationally.
To me, it sounded a bit "euro-A/C-ignorant" meme, but maybe I am on the receiving end and thus slightly oversensitive, because El Niño is not scientifically linked to any climate effect in Europe. It is known to cause effects in North America from Canada to Mexico, whole South America, Australia, South and East Asia, and South of Africa. Why it might sound as an attack to an european? Europe is "first world" and has money to buy A/C (and in fact we are doing it). There will be regions that will suffer a lot more than Europe due to this El Niño event.
The problem with Europe is not El Niño. Our problem is that we are the worse region in the world in how fast the temperature is rising, as you can see in this image/page:
https://data.giss.nasa.gov/gistemp/maps/
https://data.giss.nasa.gov/tmp/gistemp/NMAPS/tmp_GHCNv4_ERSS...
We could live without A/C, and many thought that the increase would be bearable. But then we received a slap in the face, with +7ºC (+12ºF) in the western half, +4ºC (7ºF) in the eastern and north. Deaths by heat don't usually happen at someone's house without A/C: they primarily happen either to people in elderly homes without A/C and maybe even impaired to ask for help or to hydrate properly, or people working outside in sun hours. Putting A/C in every room of every home in Europe would do little if elderly homes, many of them public, are not properly adapted.
Statistics in France show that 75% of the heat related deaths happen in people 75 and older, over 90% in people 65 and older. As sad as is might sound, it is seen as a new "natural cause" of death. Hopefully those buildings will adapt.
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>but in some coutries there are laws banning A/C below 25°C (77°F) in public places, so (US) tourist don't get the cold air hit
To be fair - cold air hit (I'm talking about big gaps betweet temperatures) is pretty bad for you.
Ideally you don't want the temperature in a room to be (immediately) lower than T-5°C or so.
I think these T- rules haven't really been thought through at temperatures reaching and exceeding 40C.
Do you have a citation for that? I was under the impression that was an "old wives tale". Human's often face huge temperature swings in winter.
In fact we go out of our way to experience these swings with saunas and cold plunges. I have put this up in the same category of "wet hair gives you pneumonia", but I am open to learning one way or another.
but that's tough when the outside temp is 40°C
I've only heard of this "meme" on this forum.
Something like 90% of US residential buildings have AC. For Europe, it's around 20% (for good reason, mind you). It's not a meme if it's an actual fact that many European homes are not prepared for these kinds of increasingly common heat waves, and I got the impression that the parent was showing genuine concern.
House build after WW2 are terrible. I miss my ancient Berlin house with 80cm thick walls. Cool in summer, warm in winter.
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