this post was submitted on 22 Jun 2024
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AC is very unusual in France, maybe a bit more in the south but even there it's rare, the houses are just built with good natural insulation and temperature regulation, stone walls, concrete walls with air gaps, etc.
As far as Paris is concerned, we're actually extremely ill-prepared for high heats. Parisians have the highest risk of heat-related death in Europe. Hardware stores are packed with AC units every summer now because people are forced to start using them. Luckily we've had terrible weather so far this summer, fingers crossed it stays that way.
Right, cities in general fucking suck at dealing with heat because they're concrete jungles with little greenery, and Paris in particular as pointed out in your article in parts due to the Zinc roofs. Doesn't change the fact few have AC (which also increases death risks during heatwaves) and that building techniques in general were made to more naturally keep houses cool, but yes that's more true with country houses and especially the more south you go. I didn't mean to imply cities didn't suffer from heat.
Give it a few years and a few more heat waves, all the people living in old buildings which are too expensive to insulate will be getting ac. There's no getting around the basic need for fresh air, no matter old habits and environmental costs. I'm sticking to ice packs and cold showers for now, don't know for how much longer though.
Heat is actually surprisingly easy to moderate with green spaces, water, shade, and wind.
Unfortunately, roads, roofs, and buildings fuck that all up.
Plant trees along every road. Line every building roof with greenery. Water that greenery, and centrally control how it's watered to create temperature/humidity differentials and thus wind throughout the entire city.
I wouldn't say it's surprisingly easy. It's possible, but it comes with substantial costs. Paris is throwing a ton of money at some of the solutions you've mentioned and the results are meager at best. Hopefully they'll improve as time goes on.