As temperatures last month soared to nearly 100 degrees in parts of Germany and 113 in France – the hottest since reliable record-keeping began in 1880 – Europeans are rethinking their once-cool view toward air conditioning. And that's forcing policymakers and grid-planners to reassess the continent's climate and energy ambitions.
Europeans have long looked askance at America's love-affair with air conditioning. While roughly 90% of U.S. households have air conditioning devices, fewer than 5% of homes have them in Europe – and those that do tend to use the devices less frequently and to set the temperatures higher.
Some of that is due to geography: The United Kingdom, for example, is farther north than the U.S. border with Canada, as are parts of other Western European countries such as France and Germany. That area once experienced as few as five days a year above 90 degrees. More recently, however, temperatures in those countries are climbing into the 90s during the summer as often as two weeks per month, forcing homeowners, offices and health centers to reconsider investing in air conditioning. Last month marked the planet's hottest June on record, driven in part by Europe's heat records.
Read the story from U.S. and Worldwide News by Alan Neuhauser - “Heat Wave Compromises Europe’s Climate Goals.”
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