Will Europe embrace cooling as deadly heat waves become more common?

London – Many Europeans have long seen air conditioning as an unnecessary, expensive, and carbon-emissions—indulgence. But as the continent's summers heat up, killing as many people as they do, that appears to be changing.

In the past week, 40 people have died in France due to drowning as they seek relief from the extreme heat. In Spain, temperatures reached 111 degrees, while the UK endured its hottest June on record. Every year, heatstroke kills an average of 175,000 people across Europe, according to the World Health Organization.

Air conditioning can reduce heat-related deaths by 75%, according to a 2007 study, and a study published by The Lancet found that in 2019, 195,000 heat-related deaths among people over 65 were avoided due to the adoption of AC.

But only about 20% of Europeans have one at home, compared to 90% in the US

So, why has it been so slow to catch on?

Culture, cost and climate

Just as Americans in Europe can't believe how much they sweat as they walk around the Louvre in Paris, European tourists to America often find themselves shocked there. – on a sunny day – they have to wear a sweater in the restaurant because the AC blows.

Part of Europe's reluctance to install air conditioning may stem from historical stoicism – the feeling that it has never existed before, so it should not be needed now.

Most of Europe, until a few decades ago, did not really need air conditioning. In southern countries, many houses were built with thick walls with white paint, small windows and shutters to keep out the sun and cold air. In the north, in places like Scandinavia and Britain, summers were not so hot.

But air conditioning is also expensive. The lack of domestic natural gas in many European countries, which necessitates imports, makes energy costs higher in Europe than in the US, according to Eurelectric. In general, take-home pay is also low.

Many Europeans feel responsible for the climate impact of the climate, which accounts for 4% of the world's greenhouse gases, according to a 2022 study. – doubling that of the aviation industry, for example.

However, now the summer in the south is so cruel that centuries of architectural tricks are compared, and in the north, houses designed to keep heat in winter have become furnaces in hot summer.

“All Sold Out”

In Italy, the thousands of deaths during the 2003 heat wave seem to have been the last straw. That summer, about 10-15% of households had AC units. By 2024, that number had risen to 56%, according to the National Institute of Statistics.

Italy now accounts for one-third of electricity consumption in air conditioning in the European Union, according to EU data.

The continent is twice as hot as the global average, according to the World Meteorological Organization, and is expected to double its stock of air conditioners by 2050, according to the International Institute of Refrigeration.

In France, which experienced “the hottest days on record” this week, according to the national meteorological agency, Meteo-France, shops were running out of air conditioners.

Golnaz Davarpanah, 81, who lives in a suburb northwest of Paris, told CBS News on Wednesday that she and a friend went to “several stores to buy one, but they all ran out.”

“During the day, I'd rather be in my car than at home,” he said. “It's surreal.”

In Britain, where Thursday broke the record for the hottest June day on record, nearly four million homes now have AC, double the number of three years ago, according to price comparison and utility switching service USwitch. Campaign groups have urged the government to install AC in schools and daycares.

Richard Salmon, of The Air Conditioning Company, says the London-based company has seen a 25-30% increase in installations per year since occupation. the closure of the COVID-19 pandemic. But nothing like what you saw this week.

“I've been doing this for 25 years and the last three days have been the busiest I think I've ever been,” he told CBS News.

For Katie, who lives in east London, the cost of air conditioning – both financial and environmental – it didn't seem worth it.

“You just eat vegetables on the couch and try to live,” she said. But she and her partner recently got AC after becoming parents.

The climate case she feels is “nowhere near the importance of making sure my child has a safe place to sleep,” she told CBS News, declining to give her full name. “Anyone who has spent an hour in a hot sweat rocking a baby to sleep can get AC, believe me.”

Bob, who runs a teaching agency in South London, said he decided to get AC after spending time in the US.

“As Brits, we are forced to think carefully about every decision we make that may affect the environment,” he told CBS News. “Since you're in a place where it's not, you easily start driving two minutes down the road and have the AC beeping.”

“I was surprised that I quickly stopped worrying about things,” he said. “I think that's because no one is doing anything different.”

Elsewhere in Europe, food in Germany is about 18%, close to the continental average, while in poorer countries – and in the colder countries of the north – the numbers are still lower. But with the hot weather, the rise of air conditioning seems inevitable for those who can afford it.

“I'm worried about my grandchildren”

To avoid the use of AC that exacerbates climate change, experts say modern, energy-efficient units should be installed – and run on renewable energy.

The key to solar energy, according to Phil Bacon, who worked until last year to evaluate new environmental technologies for EU investment.

The US East Coast power grid operator has declared a state of emergency due to high demand in May as temperatures rise and people turn on their AC. The same wanted spikes contributed to it brownouts New York City last year.

But in states like Texas, where solar power is scattered, electricity remains stable during heat waves.

The EU aims to be climate neutral by 2050 and, accordingly, Spain, Italy and Greece have limited the extent to which public buildings can be cooled in summer.

Britain, Spain, Portugal, Latvia, Albania and the Nordic states have moved forward with transitions to renewable energy, for now. The UK government has launched a program to encourage people to replace gas boilers, which have long provided hot tap water and radiators in many homes, with modern heat pump systems.

Heat pumps can provide both heating in the winter and cooling in the summer, and are very efficient, but they are still expensive and uptake has been slow so far.

The UK's Climate Change Committee said in its Seventh Carbon Budget – which was passed into law on Wednesday – that even with increased uptake, wind could account for less than 1% of the country's electricity demand by 2050 if the right climate policies are put in place.

Bacon suggests people opt for a combination of efficient, solar-powered AC, and old-school southern European solutions, like shutters, where possible.

If Europe continues to burn fossil fuels to fuel the growing trend of greenhouse gas emissions, “the world will continue to get hotter,” he told CBS News. “I'm worried about my grandchildren. It's going to be really sad.”

-Anna Matranga, Karine Barzegar and Anna Noryskiewicz contributed to this report.