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Urban areas often experience significantly higher night-time temperatures compared to their rural surroundings, a phenomenon known as the urban heat island effect. This retained heat can cause temperatures in cities to rise by as much as 7°C after dark. The consequences are particularly severe during the early morning hours when people’s bodies need cooler conditions but the heat lingers. Researchers at the University of Birmingham analyzed a past heatwave in the West Midlands and concluded that the urban heat island effect was responsible for approximately half of the 130 heat-related deaths recorded during that event.
In Walsall, Jo Shields, the sustainability lead at Walsall Housing Group (whg), which manages 23,000 homes, repeatedly encounters residents struggling to cool their homes. She explains that “the heat gain stays within the concrete or the brick, so the night-time cooling becomes harder.” During last summer’s extreme heat, residents at Ellum Pointe, a housing scheme for people over 55, reported that their flats became unbearably hot. To tackle this, whg improvised by sealing off the community room and installing a mobile air-conditioning unit, effectively creating a cool sanctuary indoors. Shields compares this solution to the warm spaces set up during the pandemic for those unable to heat their homes.
Shields, whose previous work prioritized reducing carbon emissions from housing, now faces the challenge of balancing emission reductions with adapting homes to increasingly frequent and intense heatwaves. This dilemma echoes across the UK, as landlords confront difficult choices: whether to invest in air conditioning despite its financial and environmental costs, or to enhance homes through adaptation measures while still aiming to cut carbon emissions. Historically, climate mitigation has taken precedence partly because it offers clearer financial incentives; technologies like heat pumps and electric vehicles are marketable products, while spending on cooling infrastructure and other adaptive measures rarely generates direct financial returns.
The UK’s climate policy framework also reflects this disparity. Baroness Brown, chair of the Climate Change Committee’s adaptation committee, underscores that while legally binding carbon budgets hold ministers accountable for emission reductions, adaptation efforts lack enforceable targets. She describes the government’s approach to adaptation as “writing an essay,” with her committee tasked only to assess if the government follows through on its own plans, rather than evaluating their effectiveness. However, with the recent heatwave in May, the Committee issued a report urging stricter adaptation goals, highlighting that providing cooling support to the most vulnerable 30% of homes and hospitals could reduce heat-related deaths by 40% by 2050. Brown emphasizes, “We’re saying these are the actions that can make a big difference.”
Air conditioning remains a contentious issue. At present, only about 5% of homes in England have cooling units, but the Committee recommends installing air conditioning in hospitals and care homes within the next decade and in schools within 25 years. This position directly challenges long-standing government advice favoring passive cooling—using design features like shade and ventilation instead of mechanical systems. Professor Mat Santamouris, a leading expert on urban overheating at the University of New South Wales, stresses that machines should be a last resort. His research shows that reflective roofing alone reduced indoor temperatures from about 43°C to 30°C, while ceiling fans provide affordable comfort. He criticizes the unchecked development of unshaded glass buildings in cities as “crazy” and warns, “We cannot air-condition our way out of climate change.” Santamouris also points to the air conditioning industry’s significant influence, noting that promoting passive cooling can also stimulate economic growth through jobs in building and plumbing.
Conversely, some argue that Britain’s reluctance to adopt air conditioning borders on self-punishment. David Lawrence of the Centre for British Progress questions the logic of promoting insulation for winter warmth but expecting shade to suffice for summer heat. He notes that air conditioning is already common in workplaces and shops, yet not expected in schools and hospitals despite the impacts of heat on learning, health, and concentration. This debate has become politically charged: some London councils prioritize low-energy cooling methods and have even required the removal of air conditioning units, which opponents deride as backward. Meanwhile, some politicians call for an “air-con revolution.” The Boiler Upgrade Scheme in England and Wales offers £2,500 for reversible air-to-air heat pumps, effectively subsidizing air conditioning, though it is less generous than grants for heating-only models and excludes social housing and new buildings—the households most vulnerable to extreme heat. Uptake has been limited, with only about 45 households claiming the cooling-capable heat pumps in the first month, compared to thousands for heating-only systems. In Scotland and Northern Ireland, cooling-capable heat pumps receive little to no support.
Beyond financial inequalities lies a physical paradox: air conditioning shifts heat from indoors to the outside environment, thereby warming the streets and increasing demand for more cooling. Santamouris’s studies in Sydney found that this can raise cooling needs by about one-third. Such localized heating disproportionately affects people without access to air conditioning, intensifying a widening “thermal divide.” Additionally, the peak demand for electricity due to cooling happens on hot, still evenings when renewable energy sources like wind and solar are at their lowest output, resulting in increased reliance on gas turbines that emit greenhouse gases. Ironically, the very heat that drives demand for air conditioning also reduces the efficiency of power generation, as warmer air diminishes gas turbine performance. Despite warnings from experts, demand for portable air conditioners is soaring, driven by immediate needs rather than long-term sustainability.
Experts like Santamouris and Baroness Brown share a common prescription: prioritize passive cooling first, deploy mechanical cooling only where necessary, and ensure energy sources are clean. They warn against widely installing air conditioning machines, which would strain the electrical grid and exacerbate urban heat by releasing waste heat into the atmosphere. Santamouris cites Tokyo, where air conditioning exhaust elevates outdoor temperatures by as much as a thousand watts per square meter—equivalent to the energy received from the midday sun—describing it as “another sun.” While London is not at this extreme yet, he cautions that continuing current trends could produce similar outcomes. Jo Shields, bracing for repeated extreme heat events, finds this future frightening. Yet she remains grateful for immediate relief, saying of the community room’s air-conditioned space, “We sit there all day with it on, it helps so much I want one in my flat.”
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