I knew that Europe and America were different from each other. But I didn’t have the slightest idea of how deep those differences really were until I came to the UK.
My Indian mind often saw “the West” as one broad cultural space. We rarely think about how different Europeans and Americans can be from one another, or how often they clash over politics, identity, history, and even everyday life.
As I spent more time here, I began noticing some of the stereotypes each side holds about the other. Europeans often describe Americans as loud, overly focused on money, and largely unaware of the world beyond their own borders. Americans, on the other hand, see Europeans as having a superiority complex or as being constantly critical of the United States.
I thought I had seen most of these debates. Then, to my surprise, I found myself watching a new one unfold over something I could never have imagined—a heatwave.
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Cross-continental jabs
While Europe is currently the fastest-warming continent on Earth—warming at more than twice the global average—I was surprised by the amount of schadenfreude the heatwave seemed to generate among some Americans.
Noah Smith wrote on X, “Just install the goddamn f****ng AC and save your grandma’s life, Euro friends!” It was sarcastic, provocative, and reflected a sentiment shared by many Americans.
He was not alone. Patrick Collison, the CEO of Stripe, shared a screenshot generated by Claude suggesting that Europe’s “elaborate discourse” around the lack of air conditioning was little more than a way of coping with the uncomfortable reality that America had been right about summer all along. Elon Musk reposted it, calling it a “banger.”
A heatwave had somehow turned into another chapter in the long-running cultural rivalry between Europe and America.
Europeans still have very little love for air conditioning. It is not that they cannot afford it. In many cases, they simply do not want it. Only around 20 per cent of households in Europe have air conditioning, compared to nearly 90 per cent in the United States. Even many public buildings—including schools, hospitals, and government offices—often operate without it.
Coming from India, where air conditioning and coolers are increasingly seen as a necessity during the summer, it was difficult to understand. Why would people choose to endure extreme heat when the technology to escape it already exists and can be afforded by most Europeans?
Europeans take great pride in their historic cities and centuries-old buildings, and these buildings cannot easily accommodate AC systems without changing their character. The reasoning, however, goes beyond preserving historic buildings. AC consumes huge electricity, while expelling heat back into the streets. This ends up contributing to the urban heat island effect and, in the long run, making cities even hotter. It is basically a false solution that treats the symptom, while making the problem worse. It’s a “maladaptation” to climate change – a solution that would make the problem worse.
There is also the economic reality. Electricity in much of Europe is considerably more expensive than in countries like the United States, making air conditioning not only an environmental question but also a financial one. Rather than cooling every room for months, many Europeans have traditionally preferred adapting through better building design, ventilation, shading, and simply accepting that a few weeks of discomfort are part of summer.
And perhaps the biggest reason is that, historically, Europe simply did not need it. Summer was too short to justify such a major investment. Why spend thousands on installing air conditioning for a season that, until recently, lasted only a few weeks?
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Cause and consequence
Of course, it was not only Americans who saw an opportunity to score points. Europeans were more than happy to return the favour.
Audrey Pulvar, the deputy mayor of Paris, responded by reminding Americans that the United States remains one of the world’s largest emitters of greenhouse gases. She wrote, “As the second-largest emitter of greenhouse gas emissions in the world, you bear a significant amount of responsibility for global warming and the consequences we, in France, are experiencing. Your cities, which are 90 per cent air conditioned, are not unrelated to this.”
Another video also went viral, this time of a French woman responding with clear sarcasm. She asked whether installing air conditioning everywhere would prevent forest fires or crop failures.
The French are not only giving it back in the online debate; they are also trying to keep cool in ways that reflect their own approach to the problem. Instead of immediately turning to air conditioning, many rely on traditional methods—closing exterior shutters during the day to block the sun, opening windows at night to create cross-breezes, and taking advantage of the thick stone walls found in many older buildings.
One practice that particularly caught my attention was the use of Blanc de Meudon, a chalk-based powder traditionally used in paint and as a cleaning product. Faced with extreme temperatures, some people have begun coating their windows with it to reflect sunlight and reduce indoor heat. Schools and private homes have reportedly adopted the practice as a simple, low-cost way of coping with the heat.
Coming from India, these ideas did not feel entirely foreign. We too have long relied on simple ways to cope with extreme heat—sleeping outside on hot nights, storing water in earthen pots, designing homes for ventilation, using courtyards, verandas, and shade long before air conditioning became common.
But the air conditioning debate also left me with another thought. Europeans can afford air conditioning and, in many cases, consciously choose not to install it. Millions of Indians, however, do not have that choice. For most families, owning and running an air conditioner remains a luxury they simply cannot afford.
That is perhaps what worries me the most. As the planet continues to warm, the people who will suffer the harshest consequences are often those with the fewest resources to protect themselves. Climate change is not just an environmental crisis; it is also a question of inequality.
Amana Begam Ansari is a columnist, writer, and TV news panellist. She runs a weekly YouTube show called ‘India This Week by Amana and Khalid’. She tweets @Amana_Ansari. Views are personal.
(Edited by Theres Sudeep)