3 ms·

In the UK we don’t get temperatures like this, but it doesn’t take much heat before parts of the country start feeling completely unprepared for it

TMWNN 5mo ago
Because air conditioning in homes is so rare in Europe and so widespread in the US, the gap between the number of Europeans and (North) Americans that die each year from heat waves is already larger than the total number of Americans that die from guns. <https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2025/03/05/what-the-data-says-about-gun-deaths-in-the-us/ https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2025/03/05/what-the-...>
- z3dd 5mo ago
  > the number of Europeans and (North) Americans that die each year from heat waves is already larger than the total number of Americans that die from guns. This doesn't mean much on its own. People have to die from something eventually, if someone is living a longer life due to not dying for other reasons, they get older and are more susceptible to heat.
  - raffraffraff 5mo ago
    On a long enough timeline, a piano could fall on your head
- Svip 5mo ago
  Except that source article doesn't make that claim, only number of gun deaths. The best source[1] I could find on heatwave related deaths on short notice has the following summary: > Asia observed the highest heatwave-related mortality, accounting for 47.97% (85,611 deaths) of the global excess death, followed by Europe (37.23%, 66,443 deaths), the Americas (13.15%, 23,467deaths), Africa (1.61%, 2,881 deaths), and Oceania (0.05%, 83 deaths). That of course muddles the picture by combining both American continents, though further down it quotes 9,666 for "Northern America" in table 1; though the Europe number also includes all of Russia. Those numbers are from 2023. Additionally, Europe has more than twice the population of North America. Without doing the maths, the gap claim sound about right; however, that doesn't necessarily mean it's due to a lack of air conditioning in Europe. [1] https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2666675825003133 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S266667582...
- Broken_Hippo 5mo ago
  A lot of Europe rarely has a need for air conditioning. I'm in Norway, so I'm an exception - I generally only want it a couple weeks per year, if that. It'll be more widespread here, I think, but that is more because of the popularity of heat pumps, which come with some cooling. Further south - England and Poland and all those coastal areas - are tempered by the ocean. Summers just aren't as hot. Even further south - Italy and Greece - air conditioning is common. You know, because it is hot there. Further south = hotter summers = air conditioning. Further north = moderate summers = little cool air needed.
  - arethuza 5mo ago
    I'm in Scotland and I've never wanted air conditioning at home and I'm someone who really doesn't like warm temperatures. Mind you - it doesn't get that cold here as we are next to the sea but it also never gets unpleasantly warm.
- imp0cat 5mo ago
  It is no longer rare. You can see the AC units popping up almost everywhere nowadays, usually together with solar panels.
  - gambiting 5mo ago
    I'm in the UK and we have AC. I do indeed see it popping up everywhere around where I live. You see more and more homes getting fitted with minisplits.
- globular-toast 5mo ago
  Imagine how hot it would be if everyone in Europe did have AC. The few that can't afford it would have to suffer even more.
  - solumunus 5mo ago
    You won’t have to imagine much longer.
  - _ache_ 5mo ago
    Can't afford? It's not about that, it's cultural. AC is cheap.
- IshKebab 5mo ago
  Yeah but it's mostly old people who are near death anyway.
- _ache_ 5mo ago
  Just an opinion. There is more AC in Asia and South Asia and more heat waves related deaths. You number, approximately right but means nothing and the link AC => Less deaths by Heat Wave isn't supported by any fact. Others factors like percent of the population > 70y, difference between usual temp / mean temperature in an heat wave and access to fresh and clean water should be more correlated than "AC implantation per hundred inhab".
insane_dreamer 4mo ago
The biggest problem is not how the heat affects people -- that can be partially mitigated with AC, etc. -- it's how it affects crops and livestock.

TMWNN 5mo ago

Because air conditioning in homes is so rare in Europe and so widespread in the US, the gap between the number of Europeans and (North) Americans that die each year from heat waves is already larger than the total number of Americans that die from guns. <https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2025/03/05/what-the-data-says-about-gun-deaths-in-the-us/ https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2025/03/05/what-the-...>

z3dd 5mo ago
> the number of Europeans and (North) Americans that die each year from heat waves is already larger than the total number of Americans that die from guns. This doesn't mean much on its own. People have to die from something eventually, if someone is living a longer life due to not dying for other reasons, they get older and are more susceptible to heat.
- raffraffraff 5mo ago
  On a long enough timeline, a piano could fall on your head
Svip 5mo ago
Except that source article doesn't make that claim, only number of gun deaths. The best source[1] I could find on heatwave related deaths on short notice has the following summary: > Asia observed the highest heatwave-related mortality, accounting for 47.97% (85,611 deaths) of the global excess death, followed by Europe (37.23%, 66,443 deaths), the Americas (13.15%, 23,467deaths), Africa (1.61%, 2,881 deaths), and Oceania (0.05%, 83 deaths). That of course muddles the picture by combining both American continents, though further down it quotes 9,666 for "Northern America" in table 1; though the Europe number also includes all of Russia. Those numbers are from 2023. Additionally, Europe has more than twice the population of North America. Without doing the maths, the gap claim sound about right; however, that doesn't necessarily mean it's due to a lack of air conditioning in Europe. [1] https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2666675825003133 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S266667582...
Broken_Hippo 5mo ago
A lot of Europe rarely has a need for air conditioning. I'm in Norway, so I'm an exception - I generally only want it a couple weeks per year, if that. It'll be more widespread here, I think, but that is more because of the popularity of heat pumps, which come with some cooling. Further south - England and Poland and all those coastal areas - are tempered by the ocean. Summers just aren't as hot. Even further south - Italy and Greece - air conditioning is common. You know, because it is hot there. Further south = hotter summers = air conditioning. Further north = moderate summers = little cool air needed.
- arethuza 5mo ago
  I'm in Scotland and I've never wanted air conditioning at home and I'm someone who really doesn't like warm temperatures. Mind you - it doesn't get that cold here as we are next to the sea but it also never gets unpleasantly warm.
imp0cat 5mo ago
It is no longer rare. You can see the AC units popping up almost everywhere nowadays, usually together with solar panels.
- gambiting 5mo ago
  I'm in the UK and we have AC. I do indeed see it popping up everywhere around where I live. You see more and more homes getting fitted with minisplits.
globular-toast 5mo ago
Imagine how hot it would be if everyone in Europe did have AC. The few that can't afford it would have to suffer even more.
- solumunus 5mo ago
  You won’t have to imagine much longer.
- _ache_ 5mo ago
  Can't afford? It's not about that, it's cultural. AC is cheap.
IshKebab 5mo ago
Yeah but it's mostly old people who are near death anyway.
_ache_ 5mo ago
Just an opinion. There is more AC in Asia and South Asia and more heat waves related deaths. You number, approximately right but means nothing and the link AC => Less deaths by Heat Wave isn't supported by any fact. Others factors like percent of the population > 70y, difference between usual temp / mean temperature in an heat wave and access to fresh and clean water should be more correlated than "AC implantation per hundred inhab".

insane_dreamer 4mo ago

The biggest problem is not how the heat affects people -- that can be partially mitigated with AC, etc. -- it's how it affects crops and livestock.