Europe's Deadly Aversion to Air Conditioning (In Defense of Climate Change - Episode 5)
About this episode
The episode discusses the impact of low air-conditioning adoption in Europe on public health during heat waves and the broader implications for climate policy.
In the fifth episode of In Defense of Climate Change , Bryce Nickels and climate policy scholar Roger Pielke Jr. discuss Roger’s recent essay which presents a data-driven analysis estimating how many lives are lost because of Europe’s low air-conditioning adoption. His analysis suggests that if Europe had air-conditioning penetration comparable to the United States or Japan, tens of thousands of deaths during severe heat waves could potentially be avoided. Bryce and Roger also discuss the political and moral dimensions of climate policy. Bryce argues that governments should not prioritize reducing energy consumption over protecting human lives, contending that Europe’s low adoption of air conditioning reflects this misplaced priority. Roger argues that the real challenge is not to consume less energy, but to produce abundant low-carbon energy that supports both emissions reductions and effective adaptation. The conversation concludes with a broader discussion of technology, democracy, and the role of adaptation in building resilience to climate change. ( recorded July 1, 2026 ) Get full access to Science From the Fringe at sciencefromthefringe.substack.com/subscribe
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