Europe's resistance to AC is driving it insane
Europe's cultural and infrastructural resistance to air conditioning, driven by cost and climate concerns, is causing discomfort and health risks amid rising heatwaves, a contrast to widespread AC use in the US and Asia.
Background
- Noah Smith (Noahpinion) is a prominent US-based economics blogger who writes about tech, climate, and culture. His Substack has a large influence in tech/policy circles.
- Air conditioning (AC) is far less common in European homes and offices than in the US or Asia, partly due to older building stock, cultural preferences (AC seen as unhealthy or wasteful), high electricity prices, and strict energy-efficiency regulations.
- Europe has experienced record-breaking heatwaves in recent years, which its AC-poor infrastructure is ill-equipped to handle. Heat-related deaths in Europe have been rising sharply.
- The piece argues that European reluctance to adopt AC — driven by climate guilt, nostalgia, and regulation — is causing real suffering, reduced productivity, and even death, and that this is a case where climate adaptation (AC) should outweigh emissions concerns (AC uses energy, but renewables are growing).