« Mid-Morning Art Thread | Main

Wednesday Morning Rant

A Routine Killer

As happens seemingly every year (I wrote about it last year, too), Europe is again going through a major heat wave. This time, they're calling it a "heat dome" and there's lots of apocalyptic language being thrown around, and plenty of blaming "climate change" for this thing that happens every summer. It is indeed hot. Parts of Western Europe have been over 100 degrees and it's expected to continue for a few days. Britain is expecting to set records. Europe can't deal with it and the perennial lack of effective response has real consequences.

According to the WHO (grains of salt, etc.), heatwaves have killed 200,000 Europeans in the past four years. That's a lot of people. For comparison, heat-related deaths in the United States - a country where many parts are much hotter than Europe - has had 20,000 heat-related deaths in the past 25 years. This year, Europe is responding as it always does: by banning things and by engaging in hysterical hand-wringing. It's the only response the EU ever has, and it is perhaps the only response it can have.

The histrionics are particularly good this year.

"This is not just a heatwave, it is a heat-dome driven furnace that will grip most of southern UK and push temperatures into truly exceptional territory," said Akshay Deoras, a meteorologist at the University of Reading.

A furnace that reaches 95+ degrees. That is hot to be sure, especially for Britain, but 90-something temperatures causing panic and a swath of death is insane to an American. There is a reason for the panic, which is the last time there was this kind of heat wave about 20 years ago:

"This heatwave will be quite comparable in severity to the one in August 2003. It is expected to surpass it in terms of maximum intensity," Meteo France said Monday, referring to a deadly 16-day heat wave that killed nearly 15,000 people.

Europe is responding as usual. France has banned drinking alcohol at music festivals (the article doesn't say why, so my guess is to help prevent dehydration). Spain canceled a large event where people would gather to watch the World Cup. The New York Times has some helpful hints for travelers facing the heat wave, and the list is useful to examine:

Block out the windows in your home - especially those that get afternoon sun - with a blanket or a darker sheet during the day to keep the heat out. At night, keep windows open and run fans to circulate the air.

Spritz your skin with a mist of cool or room-temperature water or wipe your forehead with a cool cloth. Cold showers can also help you cool down.

If you need to be outdoors, put ice cubes in your water bottle and drink cool liquids. If you plan to exercise, douse your head in cold water. Swimming is also a great way to exercise and keep cool.

Notice what the Times doesn't recommend. It's the obvious thing to any American. They don't recommend turning on the air conditioner. They don't recommend that because it isn't an option. Europe, as a rule, doesn't have A/C. Some places have it, of course, but most don't. Barcelona runs "climate shelters" - that is, places with air conditioning - and as was also reported during last year's heat wave, is undertaking urban reconstruction to nibble at the edges. But not to normalize A/C. That, they couldn't do even if they wanted to.

They simply don't have enough power to normalize A/C. Even if people want it (and in Europe, many decry air conditioning as absurd wasteful Americanism, but demand is nonetheless higher than ever), they can't get it. They can get the equipment, but they can't power it. The grid falls apart if too many people try. From last year's article:

Spain knows it has a problem. In a time of right-wing opposition to Europe’s environment-protecting Green Deal regulations - "greenlash," it has been called - the progressive government of Spain has embraced an ecological transition.

Yes, wanting to run an air conditioner reliably is "right-wing." Of course it is. Someone saying, "wait a second, we need more power and can't get it because the eco warriors refuse to permit reliable power generation" is the mark of a right-wing radical.

So Europe does what it can, and it's the same solution as in every crisis. As always, the answer is to stop doing things you enjoy and accept your position as a controlled subject who is forbidden from other options and merely hope the old people in your family don't die because they can't cool off. How much air conditioning would Europeans have if they could get it? Probably a damn sight more than they do now. But they can't, so the point is moot. "Decarbonization" and "climate change" and "progressive government" have all but guaranteed that this year, like most years, hot weather will rack up a meaningful body count. There is just nothing that can be done to prevent it. To prevent would be to embrace effective power generation and, yes, to take a cue from those filthy Americans and make air conditioning more common in places where it gets hot.

And we just can't do that. That would be absurd.