Europe's growing heatwaves: Air conditioning for all?

The Debate

It's the first day of July and already France and parts of Europe are enduring their second major heatwave with no respite. From the shores of the Mediterranean, warmed by waters at an alarming 26°C, to the rooftop of Europe – Mont Blanc – where the mercury's got no business venturing above freezing this early in the summer, how to adapt to the new normal?

With poorly adapted schools forced to shut, the French far-right's Marine Le Pen is advocating air conditioning for all. But A/C begets higher energy consumption. And with the same far-right party against wind farms and the switch away from gasoline-powered cars, is air conditioning a basic necessity or do alternatives exist on the planet's fastest-heating continent?

Read moreAir conditioning: Welcome relief from climate change, but part of the problem

We ask about France's claim that nuclear power is the carbon-free answer: just look at the Golfech plant located between Toulouse and Bordeaux. It has been forced to suspend activity because at 28°C, the Garonne River's waters are too hot to cool its reactors.

Produced by François Picard, Rebecca Gnignati, Juliette Laffont, Ilayda Habip and Yann Pusztai.