Heatwave Disparity: Rich vs. Poor
As brutal heatwaves sweep Europe, a stark divide emerges between those who can afford cooling and those who cannot. An American writer in Paris described the heat as manageable with closed shutters and misting, while Aboubakar, 60, in a southern suburb, wept as temperatures hit 40C inside his flat. 'I'm suffocating. I can't afford to buy a fan. There are no shutters. At night it's like a furnace,' he told the Guardian.
Julio Díaz Jiménez, a professor at Madrid's Carlos III health institute, noted: 'A heatwave is not the same when you're in a shared room with three other people and no air conditioning, as when you're in a villa with access to a pool and air conditioning.'
Record Heat and Unequal Coping
The most severe heatwave on record affected up to 150 million people from Bordeaux to Budapest, with temperatures exceeding 40C. Parisians slept in parks, Berlin police used water cannon to cool crowds, and Amsterdam households hung curtains outside windows. However, not everyone could adopt such measures. In the UK, hotels saw a surge in bookings for air-conditioned rooms. In wealthy areas west of Paris, some towns banned outsiders from municipal pools, and a German swimming lake turned away non-German speakers.
Vulnerable Populations Suffer Most
Half of French homes lack adequate heat protection. Many live in heat-trap homes or concrete-heavy areas with little green space, relying on crowded buses. Access to healthcare is limited, leaving them prone to heat-exacerbated conditions. Workers in agriculture and construction face regular high-temperature exposure. Asad Rehman, CEO of Friends of the Earth, said the heat 'throws a grenade into every vulnerability you already have.'
Alarming Death Toll
Research suggests extreme heat and inequality could cause over 100,000 deaths annually in Europe, where heat kills 10 times more people than murderers, according to climate Q&A by Ajit Niranjan. France reported about 1,000 additional deaths between 24 and 27 June, and Spain linked the heatwave to over 600 deaths. The Democracy in Europe Movement 2025, launched by Yanis Varoufakis, posted: 'This heat is not only a climate emergency, but it is also a class war. The rich burn the planet, then buy air conditioning, private pools and second homes while workers are left in overheated flats, unsafe jobs, failed public services and burning cities.'
