[Anchor]

A record-breaking heatwave with temperatures exceeding 40°C (104°F) is gripping Europe. Preliminary data shows that more than 3,000 heat-related deaths were recorded in France and Spain alone last month. In Paris, funeral homes are reportedly struggling to keep up with the demand. We look into what is happening on the ground.

[Reporter]

Europe’s summers have historically been relatively cool with low humidity. Why has the situation changed so drastically?

Weather experts point to a massive meteorological anomaly known as an Omega block.

The principle is simple.

Due to global warming, the jet stream, which is supposed to flow tightly and rapidly due to the temperature difference between the North Pole and the south, has weakened and stretched, bending sharply into the shape of the Greek letter Omega.

This trapped hot high-pressure air from North Africa, turning the heart of the European continent into a scorching oven.

Looking at the excess mortality data in France, 85% of the deceased were seniors aged 65 and older, with deaths occurring at home surging by 40%.

One of the core reasons for these heat-related deaths is Europe’s extremely low air conditioning penetration rate.

Until the 2000s, summer temperatures in most parts of Europe remained stable, hovering around 20 to 25°C (68 to 77°F).

While heatwaves occurred in the past, prolonged high-temperature phenomena were rare.

For this reason, air conditioning has long been perceived in Europe as a luxury item rather than a daily necessity.

[Interview] JISOO / Resident of Paris for 3 years: I have honestly never seen an air conditioner in a home. It is not just homes; cafes, restaurants, schools, and even public transportation lack air conditioning, and even when they do have it, the airflow is often very weak.

Even where air conditioning is available, electricity rates in Europe are among the highest in the world, making it a financial burden for households to use them.

One might wonder why they do not simply install air conditioners now, but the reality is not so simple.

In most of Europe’s historic city centers, the entire city is considered a cultural heritage site, and installing outdoor units that could damage the exterior is strictly prohibited by law.

Furthermore, most buildings are over 100 years old, meaning that constructing cooling systems would require massive costs and time.

Even the internal electrical wiring is outdated, posing a high risk of short-circuit fires as it cannot handle the power load of air conditioners.

However, faced with a threat to survival, people across France have overcome these obstacles, with sales of air conditioners and fans surging up to 1,000 times the usual rate in just a single day.

As the situation has reached this point, the issue of air conditioning supply has even turned into a political battle.

This is because France, which has been particularly passive about air conditioning installation compared to other European nations, is facing a presidential election next year.

The far-right National Rally party is currently arguing that the government should guarantee the right to cooling through large-scale subsidies.

They have sharply criticized the current administration, calling this mass casualty event a tragedy that could have been sufficiently prevented if preparations had been made over the years.

In response, the government countered that France is a global leader in greenhouse gas reduction, claiming that their climate policies are actually the reason for the lower frequency of heatwaves.

The far-left La France Insoumise party also maintains a firm stance, arguing that instead of air conditioners that only increase carbon emissions, the focus should be on increasing heat-resistant buildings.

Interestingly, the Green Party, which has historically opposed the spread of air conditioning, has shown a shift in its stance, acknowledging that there are places where survival is impossible without it.

Currently, European governments have recommended that companies and schools shorten working and class hours, and have issued early school closures and large-scale vacation orders.

Old cultural heritage sites with insufficient cooling facilities, such as the Louvre and the Eiffel Tower, have closed early.

Public facilities equipped with air conditioning are being opened for free to serve as emergency shelters for citizens.

[Interview] JISOO / Resident of Paris for 3 years: Honestly, as an ordinary citizen, I still feel that there are not enough spaces to escape the heat. In Korea, there are many heat shelters where you can avoid the heat while waiting for public transportation. But here, you cannot find anything like that, and it seems like people are relying heavily on their own ways of enduring it, so I felt that preparations for heatwaves are still lacking.

With sudden heatwaves potentially becoming the new normal in Europe, how will their daily lives change in the future?