The heat is on. Enough to make Parisians take the plunge into the once notoriously polluted Canal Saint Martin. France this Tuesday awakening from its hottest night on record, enough to test the tempers of city dwellers as they sizzle under the zinc roofs of top floor apartments built for a bygone age. And while an unprecedented heat dome stalls over western Europe for God knows how long.
France’s political class is scrambling to prove it’s ready to move heaven and earth. Enter that burning question: should there be air conditioning for all? Emphatic yeses arising from more than just home appliance salespeople: the far-right’s all in with A/C, basing as constraining and elitist those who fret that cooling systems add to warming outside temperatures.
Unquestionably, hospitals, nursing homes, schools and social housing need to adapt to the new normal – what with more than half of France’s post-war heatwaves occurring since 2010. So what measures? How to help those that can’t afford expensive geothermal pumps or new shutters for their homes? What’s fair? What’s sustainable?
Produced by François Picard, Rebecca Gnignati, Juliette Laffont, Piera Rocco, Charles Wente.
