More than 20,000 people died from heat-related causes across Europe in a single week during the latest heatwave, accordi...

More than 20,000 people died from heat-related causes across Europe in a single week during the latest heatwave, according to a new study. France recorded over 2,000 excess deaths from extreme temperatures, Belgium counted 1,222, and the Netherlands 480. Only about 20% of European households have air conditioning, compared to roughly 90% in the United States and two-thirds in Canada. European officials and politicians have actively discouraged AC adoption for years. Germany's Environment Ministry has claimed that air conditioners "don't provide effective cooling." French left-wing leader Jean-Luc Mélenchon has said that "air conditioning destroys your sinuses." The city of Ghent in Belgium published on its official website that "the best air conditioner is a tree," a position that temperatures reaching 40.5°C make look absurd. The real barriers are a mix of cultural conservatism, high energy costs driven by green taxes and policy decisions like Germany's closure of its zero-emission nuclear plants, and outright regulatory hostility. Building codes in many European countries actually lower a building's energy rating if AC is installed. Geneva's canton requires homeowners to obtain a medical certificate proving medical necessity before they are allowed to install a unit. One-third of German hospitals have no air conditioning in patient wards, despite the sick and elderly being the most vulnerable to heat, according to the head of Germany's physicians union. In some cases, families are asked to bring ice packs from home to cool down patients. The argument that discouraging AC protects future generations from climate change falls apart when per-capita carbon emissions are already falling across Europe, Canada, and the US, while China and India, where AC adoption is accelerating, are driving global emissions growth. The inconsistency is stark. European governments push households to switch from heating systems to heat pumps, which use essentially the same technology as air conditioners, yet treat cooling as a luxury while heating is treated as a basic right. Both are artificial interventions. One is just more politically acceptable than the other. #Europe #He...