Last night I got a call from a friend who had been staying in London for the past 3years. He wanted to know what type of air-conditioner is better – window or split type. He sounded quite hassled as he was figuring out how the air conditioner would be installed in his rented apartment; what kind of permissions would be required; whether he can get a skilled technician to install an air conditioner; and how much would be the operational cost (electricity bill) for using an air-conditioner in London. I am sure he was overreacting to an ordinary situation, because the situation is dramatically asymmetrical to his perception of life in London.
This summer seems to be particularly hard for the Britons. The mercury has soared past 40 degree Celsius, apparently for the first time ever in history. The native white population is particularly perturbed as they are finding the heat unbearable. Citizens are commonly reporting problems like skin burns, dehydration, breathlessness, nausea, exhaustion etc. Schools are shut down. Advisory has been issued to avoid rail travel. It is not the UK alone; this summer is unusually hot in many parts of the European continent. Also, it is not something that has happened suddenly. The weather has been hitting the extremes both in winters and summers for the past few years.
Arguably, on an average, use of 3 air-conditioners creates demand for the fourth air conditioner, as the heat emitted by air conditioners in 3 houses makes the life tougher for dwellers in the fourth house. Multiple air conditioners in a single house, in the dense London city, could damage the climate much faster and more permanently.
The soaring prices of energy are not helping either. There are reports that some countries in Europe might increase the use of coal in their energy mix, till the time Russia-Ukraine war ends and the energy supplies from Russia normalize.
Obviously, an average London resident is not comfortable. We would have to wait for a couple of years to see if people leave London to settle in the cooler and wetter countryside or they stay and endure the tougher living conditions by paying more. For example, Mumbaikars stayed back in such a situation in the 1980s – perennially cribbing and whining about worsening climate and rising cost of living. At stake in the short term are the prices of London real estate, labor shortages, and consumer demand (hence economic growth). Though, academically we can discuss the sustainability of the European continent per se.
In fact, on the policy front, many European governments may be struggling with this Catch-22 situation. The prudence wants them to increase focus on renewables and climate control efforts; whereas the political compulsion may be forcing them to ignore the rising use of conventional fuels coal, biomass and wood.
As if to make things even worse, the political environment in the UK has also become unusually hot. The white natives, who were perturbed by the prospects of influx of ethnic immigrants from the poorer EU member states and voted overwhelmingly in favor of Brexit, are faced with the prospects of a brown person from a minority ethnicity becoming head of the government. Even this thought would have been a punishable blasphemy a few decades ago.
