Climate in France used to be moderate and the reality of climate change was increasingly discredited - arguably it’s related to the increasing popularity of the far right and its influence on the conservatives and mainstream media. So: few buildings have AC, many environment-friendly laws have been cancelled in favor of “business-friendly” policies, and the governments pushed hard to cut investments, for example - 65% in a provisioned green fund.
Currently visiting Europe from Australia. The heat’s undeniably quite bad, but it’s high time Europe started investing in public infrastructure, building codes, and service laws to support people in these heat waves. I’m shocked at how difficult it is to access water anywhere!!
In France it is required by law that any café/restaurant provide you with free water when you ask. They don’t have to allow you to sit down and occupy a table if you’re not purchasing anything but they have to give you water.
These heat waves have been basically yearly and yet my family in France and the UK for some reason remain allergic to just getting an air conditioner. Sure, I get it, you don’t need it most of the year, but this at this point not at least buying a portable unit is ridiculous (and yes I know about European windows, that’s why I suggested a portable, way easier to rig a temp mount for a hose with some thick plastic sheeting at the worst case of all of the windows in the house won’t work as needed for the typical mounting set up)
Actually, these people could be sold air source heat pumps, which are reversible, and provide A/C in the summer, with the heating savings argument. Heating with these things is so much cheaper than traditional means that they pay themselves in a couple of years. In Spain you can buy split air/air units (no water heating) that cost less than the installation costs.
SEER 6.1 y SCOP 4
44.3°C (111.7°F)
Fuck that’s hot. RIP Earth.
The Earth will be fine, it’s RIP humans.
Yeah, this massive rock itself will survive, so all the animals and plants in ecosystems that can’t adjust to climate change can suffer and it’s fine. /s
Yeah, that’s kind of how that works.
That’s 44 degrees in shade. You start slow cooking yourself when too long in the sun.
Honestly its not that bad. Problem is their overly insulated buildings. If you hydrate and wear the right clothing outside you’ll be fine. The problem is its probably hotter in their homes than outside. Im in Germany right now and its currently 90°F. Even without AC its more of an inconvenience if you know what to do.
Dont see it too often on here but on other social media sites you see a lot of Europeans (possibly bot accounts) lambasting American buildings for being made of cardboard and tooth picks. Its almost like you should design buildings based on the climate of the region. Problems is the climate is changing and having a building made of lighter materials that dont trap heat and can easily have HVAC systems installed is a better idea if you’re living inland
Yeah it’s not bad for young and healthy people who can stay inside, be relatively inactive, drink enough, etc…
As always climate change hits the weak first: Old people, people with certain disabilities, homeless people, people who have to work physically during the heat are at higher risk to suffer from the heat.
Shouldn’t good insulation help because it takes longer for outside heat to heat up the inside?
Yes. Insulation helps in both hot and cold environments. I live in a desert where it routinely hovers around 100F for three months out of the year. If my house weren’t insulated I’d bake. As it is, I don’t need an air conditioner, I do fine with just a fan, and letting the house cool off at night. The house stays around 80F for most of the day, until the late afternoon.
I live in a poorly insulated apartment. It’s very cold in winter and heating it to 19°C all the time would cost around 500€ a month.
The problem is the choice of materials and the designs… no good shade against the sun (I have shutters and that helps a bit), concrete walls that give off tons of heat for days (impossible to cool by airing out at dawn after 3 days of intense heat during the day), no provision for AC or proper ventilation (it’s built on top of the foundations from an old farm with a nice cellar it could have natural ventilation from there chilling the living spaces).
What would really save the planet is less insulated housing and a bottle of water.
Alternative proposal: reversible heat pump with thermal heating redistribution.
I wish my city would shut down when it hit 85F degrees. But I’m in Florida, so we just call 100F “normal” and move any victims from public view. Shit it’s 85F in the middle of the night here! …fuckin hate this place 🥵
Its not 85F ( 29.99… C ), i fucking wish.
Today we ( not france ) are hitting 38C ( +100F ) and thats just in the vicinity if france.
Paris is hitting 41C ( 106F ) today, and other places are even hotter!
But global warming isn’t real guys…
/s
Can’t wait for August…
