Heat Wave in France: Is it time for AC?
Everywhere in France, people are experiencing a historic heat wave. Sunday, a heat dome formed over the French state and put pression onto the infrastructure that lacks air conditioning. Sunday 27th, Paris beat its record when it reached its tenth consecutive day with temperatures higher than 95° F. For some citizens, they live and work in buildings that lack air conditioning. For some it can make daily life more miserable. Yannick, Reunionese and Toulouse resident and who has already lived through 5 heat waves, had to shelter from the sun to escape the intense heat. He told Jou Jòrdi, “I try not to go outside too too much during the day…I leave the house only for groceries or important things.”
It’s a sentiment that is shared with Hélène, born in Reunion and a resident of Seine-et-Marne, “You are stuck in your house. If you leave; the sun burns you.” However, even staying inside doesn’t suffice. For Aurélie, Hélène’s sister, the heat affects not just her physical state of being but also her mental. She tells us, “I didn’t think that it was possible to have a depression in the summer due to the weather. It really affects my mood: I was more irritable; I lost my appetite. The fatigue is a lot, but when we don’t sleep, we enter into a vicious cycle that’s really difficult.”
Monique Barbut, the minister of ecological transition
Only 24% of French households have installed air conditioning compared to 90% of American households. A dangerous reality for at risk people. For Monique Barbut, the ecological minister, the utility of air conditioning is not an adaptation to climate change. Before French journalists, she denounced, “I am horrified by the people who tell me, 'Oh but we must put air conditioning everywhere’. Very well, we will put air conditioning everywhere. Do you believe that will prevent forest fires? You think that will prevent the deaths of animals that we see? What do you think it will prevent? Nothing.”
In France, these regions are not historically affected by intense heat episodes, that has caused an architectural culture that is not well adapted regulate a high temperature. For residents such as Mahéva, an air conditioner does not do much to lower the temperatures inside of the house. She states,” We have to fix the housing to be better adapted…. Even with an air conditioner it’s hot.”
Yet, for the French government it’s still a question of economics and environment. How the installation of air conditioning in the majority of buildings can impact the architecture, electricity system, culture, and plenty of other factors. A discourse that has already presented itself even before the presidential election in 2027.
