General News
As heatwaves continue to batter Europe after months of record-breaking high temperatures, the effects of climate change are becoming increasingly difficult to ignore.
Jul
Visitors pause to rest in the Grand Gallery of the Louvre in Paris on 22 June 2026, as temperatures sore amidst a red heatwave alert (Image: Eric Broncard/Hans Lucas via Reuters Connect)
Europe’s New Heat Reality
In the wake of multiple record-breaking high temperatures and the often-overlooked death toll that follows them, the discussion of climate change and its role in these extreme weather events continues. A new study by the World Weather Attribution (WWA), co-authored by Dr. Claire Bergin from the ICARUS Climate Research Centre at Maynooth University, warns of the ever-increasing reality and dangers of climate change.
Some key findings:
- Heatwaves cause more deaths in Europe than all other natural hazards combined. As temperatures continue to rise, ageing populations, growing prevalence of chronic illness, and uneven access to cooling and heat-resilient housing are increasing vulnerability, placing mounting pressure on health systems.
- Heat risk is concentrated in cities, where urban heat island effects, ageing building stock, and socioeconomic inequalities combine to intensity exposure. Many homes, schools, transport systems, and energy infrastructure were not designed for prolonged extreme heat, highlighting the urgent need for equitable adaptation, building retrofits, passive cooling measures, and heat-resilient urban design.
- This summer shows that at 1.4°C of global warming, extreme heat is already reaching the limits of our societies’ ability to cope. Our analysis here shows that intense heat is increasing rapidly even in living memory, with such events tens to hundreds of times more likely since only 2003 and virtually impossible just 50 years ago. A rapid phase-out of fossil fuels is critical if we are to avoid even higher temperatures and their consequences in the future.
Read the full study here
(Source: World in Maps)
The Role of the Built Environment
Exposure to heat is particularly concentrated in urban areas. Major cities can experience substantially higher temperatures than surrounding rural areas, especially in densely built neighborhoods with limited vegetation and surface water. This is known as the urban heat island (UHI) effect. Exposure is also shaped not only by outdoor temperatures, but also by the thermal performance of buildings and enclosed environments.
In France, fatalities have been linked to overheating inside buildings and vehicles, illustrating how prolonged heat can become life-threatening. This is especially relevant in Ireland and the UK, where buildings were historically optimised to retain heat rather than dissipate it. School closures and reduced schedules across thousands of educational facilities in France and the UK further demonstrates how many public buildings and institutions remain insufficiently adapted to extreme temperatures.
Street thermometer in Bilbao city, Spain, displays a terrifying 50 degrees Celsius during intense summer heatwaves (Image:
A Changed Climate
The reality is that we now live in a world where we must adapt our homes and places of work to function in this changed climate. Buildings built to retain heat have created the unintended side effect of occupants overheating, and this will become more of a problem as the frequency and severity of heatwaves look set to increase. The good news is that solutions do exist.
For newer buildings, innovations in insulation, natural building materials, green roofing, reflective coatings and paints, and more, as well as the incorporation of newer building standards such as Passivhaus continue to give rise to impressive, energy-efficient and even zero-energy buildings, resistant to the cold and heat while also being capable of both heating and cooling as necessary.
Pre-existing buildings are a little more complicated. Insulation is a good start and helps to maintain a stable indoor temperature, however natural ventilation alone is not always enough to deal with excess interior heat. As the occupant of a retrofit home myself, I’ve found myself struggling with the heat more in recent years. Even during relatively mild summer heat, the temperature in my home reaches the high 20’s and low 30’s. During the night, when the outside temperature drops below 20C, the house remains uncomfortably in the high 20’s. Without a way to regulate the temperature, the heat remains trapped, and some nights it feels like sleeping outside in the garden would be preferable to remaining in my own home. For these buildings, more is required to stay comfortable.
Irish buildings are typically not built with air conditioning in mind, nor are they a good long-term solution. Ceiling fans are a highly overlooked and underappreciated option that can help. Realistically, Insulation combined with natural ventilation, shading (blinds, shutters, etc.) and energy-efficient mechanical cooling such as an air-to-air heat pump, or air-to-water heat pump with a fan coil unit, is no longer just a luxury, but a necessity.
A young man douses himself to combat the second heatwave of the summer (Image: Ricardo Rubio/Europa Press)
Conclusion
Climate change is no longer a distant challenge for us; it is already reshaping the world we live in. As extreme heat becomes more frequent and more intense, adapting our buildings is no longer optional. Reducing our greenhouse gas emissions remains essential to limit future warming, but we must also ensure that the buildings we rely on every day are resilient to the climate we are already experiencing. The sooner we act, the better equipped we will be to both protect public health and ensure the places we live and work in remain safe and comfortable in the decades ahead.
