I get that a lot of houses in Europe don't have built-in air conditioning.
What I don't get is the argument that houses built to hold in heat in winter are inherently hard to cool. Insulation works both ways? In Texas, we want as much insulation as possible!
I get it's an infrastructure problem but it's one that has been staring Europe in the face for decades.
@obfusk I get that, too, and I've been in multiple apartments with big glass patio doors and huge windows all facing the sun and almost no insulation.
It's not an insurmountable problem.
@gwynnion no the main problem is inaction
e.g. awnings would help, but can't install those if you rent
and just today, with another temperature record broken, an "expert" was quoted on the news saying air conditioning is bad actually because it means your body doesn't get used to the extreme heat (after a week)
@obfusk Yeah, absolutely, and I keep seeing a weird mix of apathy and magical thinking.
Europe is the fastest warming continent and last I checked, heat is the biggest killer by far. And yet everyone kind of shrugs at the problem?
@gwynnion the Dutch response to covid has been to [checks notes] not recommend masks because preventing infections isn't part of public health policy
nowadays the media do at least acknowledge long covid is real but I've never seen any suggestion that anyone has ever considered doing literally anything to prevent cases
it just feels so bizarre that people acknowledge the problem and then just... completely ignore that we could do something
so I'm not exactly surprised we're doing the same with heat deaths
@obfusk It's bizarre given not only the number of deaths but the fact that GDPs are estimated to contract between 5-7% because of heat. You'd think even the bean counters would care about that?
But I guess as long as the effects can be externalized onto the poor, and those losses are less than they think it would cost to fix it: eh?
@gwynnion yeah...
I expected the bean counters to care about the economic effects of lots of people getting chronic health conditions from covid but they don't care about that either
@obfusk
https://9mmballpoint.blogspot.com/2023/08/acclimate-change.html
This feels appropriate.
@VestigialLung @obfusk Not to mention the fact that Europe's reliance on methane heating is MUCH worse for the climate and environment than AC. It's not even energy efficient compared to modern heat pump designs.
Yeah, the coolants aren't environmentally friendly but you're not supposed to let them leak everywhere!
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