Outside In | Hot and bothered Europeans finally warm to air con
Already, about 12 per cent of the Earth’s land area is uninhabitable due to deadly climate conditions. This is set to rise to over 45 per cent by 2100, with at least 44 per cent of the world’s population likely to become chronically stressed. The World Health Organization estimates that between 2000 and 2019, there were 489,000 heat-related deaths – 45 per cent in Asia and 36 per cent in Europe.
For perspective, that is a small number compared with the estimated 4.6 million annual deaths due to the cold. But heat deaths are expected to steadily rise, with hundreds of cities potentially becoming unliveable by the end of the century. This brings us to the pressing challenge of staying cool wherever we live on the planet and of, in more general terms, space cooling, which includes refrigeration.
To be fair, we do not rely on air conditioning alone to keep cool. Egyptians thousands of years ago hung water-drenched reeds across their windows to cool their homes. And Romans ran aqueducts along their walls to achieve the same effect. Cities like Seville in southern Spain, which can see temperatures close to 50 degrees, have built narrow streets, small shady squares, fountains and planted shade-giving trees to moderate the heat. And siestas are still a common practice to push working hours into the cooler evening hours.
Yet air conditioning, for those that can afford it, has played a huge role in making life tolerable in the world’s more tropical climes.
