Fwd: How France battles deadly heat

0 views

Skip to first unread message

Loretta Lohman

unread,

Jun 29, 2026, 10:28:10 AM (3 days ago) Jun 29

to weather, land interest, select nemo

Read in browser

Europe’s record-breaking heat wave continues, shifting east to scorch Hungary, Romania and the Balkans. The intense and unusually early heat event underscores how climate change is transforming summers in the region.

Today’s newsletter looks at how Paris is trying to keep cool, and explains why Europe is the world’s fastest-warming continent. Plus, a look at the US wind industry’s future.

Subscribe to Bloomberg.com for unlimited access to all our stories.

Using the Seine to keep cool

By Francois de Beaupuy

Under the streets of Paris, a 75-mile labyrinth of pipes is at work trying to keep the parts of the city cool. They’re carrying water that’s been chilled in special plants before being sent across the French capital, to offices, malls and museums including the Louvre.

In a country where air conditioning is rare, the district cooling network offers just that. Operator Fraicheur de Paris, part of Engie SA, says it’s more environmentally friendly, using 50% less electricity than a standalone system and cutting emissions by half.

The network, which uses water from the Seine as part of the cooling process, is under intense strain right now from record high temperatures that have taken hold across the continent. Managing Director Marie Carlo said chilling plants are working round the clock, and huge demand as well as occasional power outages means sometimes they can’t get the water as cold as usual.

Despite the stresses on operations, Carlo says district cooling is going to become even more important as a response to climate change and more extreme weather patterns.

The River Seine during the heat wave in Paris. Photographer: SIMON WOHLFAHRT/AFP — The River Seine during the heat wave in Paris.

The latest heatwave in Europe arrived before the usual summer temperature peak in July. In Paris, it forced the Louvre and the Eiffel Tower to close earlier than usual this week. Across the continent, transport was disrupted, crops were damaged, and schools and nurseries had to shut.

It’s also been linked to a number of deaths, something that’s become a recurring theme in Europe. More than 60,000 people were likely killed by scorching temperatures in the summer of 2022, and about 47,000 people in 2023.

A heat exchanger room at a cooling plant operated by Fraicheur de Paris, in Paris. Photographer: Bruno Placier/Engie SA — A heat exchanger room at a cooling plant operated by Fraicheur de Paris, in Paris.

“What used to be seen as a comfort solution is now becoming a health issue,” Carlo said this week while presenting a tour of Fraicheur de Paris’s operations. “We have a lot of demand for connections these days.”

Excess deaths

1,000

The number of additional deaths France recorded last week due to the record-breaking heat wave.

Adapt or suffer

“We are going to need to make some very significant changes in the way we live”

Ed Hawkins

Climate scientist at the University of Reading.

Europe’s infrastructure, much of it constructed centuries ago, wasn’t built to withstand modern heat waves.

Economic risk

By Tasneem Brogger

The devastating impact of extreme heat on health and well-being is beyond dispute. But there are also clear indications that rising temperatures are leaving a meaningful dent on economic output for the continent. “The current heatwaves bring a new downside risk for the European economy,” writes Carsten Brzeski, global head of macro at Dutch bank ING.

He notes that the European Central Bank has already estimated that heatwaves and droughts could drive up food inflation by some 0.4-0.9 percentage points, an effect that may double over the next 30 years. The uncomfortable truth, says Brzeski, is that heat waves have quietly graduated from “weather event” to “macro variable.”

“`The thermometer, it turns out, has become a leading indicator.”

Get more

Wither US wind?

By Mark Chediak

The largest wind farm in US history started operating this month, a massive complex of spinning turbines in New Mexico that will power more than a million homes in the Southwest.

SunZia, as it’s called, will be the country’s last landmark wind project for some time. After this year, annual onshore wind power additions are forecast to decline until 2030, according to BloombergNEF.

A coal train in front of wind turbines near Encino, New Mexico. Photographer: Minesh Bacrania/Bloomberg — A coal train in front of wind turbines near Encino, New Mexico.

The biggest reason is President Donald Trump’s assault on renewable energy, and wind in particular. He has vowed to block new wind development in his second term. But Trump isn’t the only culprit: inflation, supply challenges and local opposition have complicated development since the Biden administration. The wind industry also has to contend with the end of lucrative tax credits this year, tariffs and long waits to connect to power grids.

“The development pipeline faces a lot of uncertainties,” said Diego Espinosa, a wind analyst for research firm Wood Mackenzie.

The wind sector is also losing out to other renewable energy sources. Even in the Trump era, solar easily provides the most new annual capacity, while batteries are also besting wind capacity additions each year. Solar generation is cheaper and faster to install, a critical factor in an era of surging demand from power-hungry data centers.

“Solar costs have continued to come down more than previously expected, and wind costs have been rising the past couple of years,” said Harrison Sholler, an analyst for BloombergNEF.

Developers of wind have fewer places where it makes economic sense to install their sky-high turbines compared with solar. And large swaths of those locations have already been built out — such as in the Texas panhandle — further limiting opportunities, Sholler said.

The wind industry has known that solar enjoys some inherent advantages, but it didn’t expect the breadth of Trump’s anti-wind campaign. The industry prospered during Trump’s first term despite him hating turbines long before entering politics.

Zero

Solar, Batteries Are Thriving in Trump's America

The common narrative is that the US renewables industry is struggling. But that’s not the case for the whole sector. This week on Zero, Akshat Rathi talks with Kevin Smith, chief executive officer of Cypress Creek Energy, which recently secured $3.5 billion in financing to build one of the biggest solar and battery projects in the US. Even as the current American administration dismantles clean-energy policies, Smith sees a bright future for solar and batteries.

Listen now, and subscribe on Apple, Spotify or YouTube to get new episodes of Zero every Thursday.

Europe’s heat wave, explained

By Joe Wertz and Laura Millan

Europe is contending with a new climate reality as extreme heat is no longer a rare occurrence.

Two searing heat waves in May and June set temperature records across France, Germany, Spain and the UK. In some places, the mercury rose above 40C (104F). Those blistering conditions, which arrived well ahead of peak summer, were driven by an area of high pressure, known as a heat dome, sitting over Europe and trapping warm air underneath.

Heat waves are becoming more frequent, more intense and longer-lasting across Europe, the world’s fastest-warming continent. Forecasts suggest there could be months of abnormal heat to come, which may be intensified by atmospheric shifts linked to the return of the El Niño weather phenomenon.

Fashion crackdown

By Olivia Rudgard

Three fashion brands have had promotions banned by a UK regulator after they advertised clothing as “recycled” even though it contained some non-recycled materials.

Uniqlo, Calvin Klein and Adidas all failed to make it sufficiently clear that the clothing they were advertising also contained non-recycled material, and consumers would likely be misled by the claims made in Google advertisements, the Advertising Standards Authority said in a ruling last week.

It’s part of a series of investigations by the ASA and its fellow regulator, the Competition and Markets Authority, which have warned companies that advertisements promoting products as environmentally-friendly must be backed up by solid evidence.