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Comment by throwaway5752 | Hacker News Reader

The people of France aren't ignorant. They have just acclimated to a climate that is rapidly getting hotter.

It would be patronizing if French people offered basic advice on not building on floodplains and storm preparation after Harvey. People just plan based on their prior experiences.

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Im from Belgium and like France we are completely unprepared when it comes to these summers.

The Texas model offers some good ideas to think about. Why must you get so offended, I didn’t.

My perspective is I'm much more concerned that France has to take US Gulf Coast level climate management steps in the first place. I think all the advice is good, but I don't think the problem is lack of knowledge but rather denial that the climate crisis is as bad as it is. I am not offended, sorry to both of you if it came off that way.

Ah so it's the fault of the US for France's heatwave?

If it's related to climate change, then definitely yes.

https://ourworldindata.org/co2-and-other-greenhouse-gas-emis...

US responsible for about a quarter of cumulative CO2 emissions, and has been #1 since about 1911.

China is emitting more now, but cumulative emissions are only half as much.

And France has done its best to invest in nuclear power.

No they go on holiday in august - the last time this happened it was mostly older people who stayed behind in the city who died.

The use of AC in France is also quite foreign. None person in my family use one, despite them living all over the country. But go to the states or to India, and there is AC everywhere.

There will probably be a period of adjustment here in San Francisco, CA, too. My apartment does not have an air conditioner, and neither do many (most?) other SF apartments. If people start dropping dead because of the heat here, I have no idea what the city could/would do to address that situation.

Being on the Pacific will moderate the chances of that; and give you somewhere to chill.

More EU major cities are in-land than US (something about war after war), so there’s less ability to cool off.

And less moderating circulating waters.

When I grew up in India AC was actually almost nonexistent (except for very rich people and some offices). Instead there were lots of trees, high-velocity ceiling fans, and ventilation (which is important when there's no electricity). Heatstroke/sunstroke outdoors was known, but deaths from hot conditions indoors were rare.

Today, there's fewer trees and a lot more AC. It's ironic because AC (especially inefficient window units) contributes to global warming in a big way.

>People just plan based on their prior experiences.

That’s... pretty much the definition of ignorant. Being ignorant isn’t bad and being able to recognize what you’re ignorant of it much more important than “not being ignorant”.

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