Cannot make this shit uphttps://www.politico.eu/article/eu-commission-heatwave-hq-forced-shut-down-air-conditioning-europe/The European Commission’s headquarters was forced to shut down its air-conditioning system on Friday due to the heat wave.Staff working at the Berlaymont building received a text at midday, reading: “BERL — URGENT — Due to extreme weather conditions, forced shut down of air cooling system from floor 1 to 7 for the rest of the day.”The 13-story building is home to Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, her 26 commissioners and about 3,000 staff. Von der Leyen works on the 13th floor, and most of her commissioners’ offices are housed on floors eight or above.Belgium and much of Europe have been sweltering for the past week, with record-breaking temperatures.The Commission issued guidance for its staff earlier this week, which included avoiding going outside at the hottest times of day, drinking water regularly and starting work earlier.But the advice angered some Commission staff who work in buildings without air-conditioning, including DG AGRI, according to internal communications seen by POLITICO’s Brussels Playbook.“It’s like feudalism,” a Commission official working on a lower level of the Berlaymont, granted anonymity to speak freely, told POLITICO on Friday, referring to the fact that upper floors housing commissioners got to keep their AC on. A second official agreed it was a “disgrace.”
A third staffer working on the 8th floor told POLITICO on Friday that even with working AC, the temperature inside was still 25.7 degrees.The heat wave has prompted a renewed discussion about the lack of air-conditioning systems in homes and offices across much of Europe. Only about one-fifth of households on the continent have AC. In Belgium, one-fifth of all trains are without AC, prompting the national rail company to cancel many peak-hour services.The European Parliament has also faced blackouts this week due to energy consumption from cranking up its cooling system.
>>1521995lmao get rekt but also climate change is fake and this is purely coincidental
>>1522004Maybe the problem is bad data How far back do we have reliable weather record in Australia and New Zealand? If a headline there says "once in a century storm" how many centuries back do they have records of those storms?
>>1522213The problem is that it's too fucking hot.
>>1522271It's called summer. Happens every year.
>>1522213Urbanization around weather stations causes them to read hotter. There is certainly permanent local warming due to land use changes. Wild areas with lots of vegetation and soil moisture keep their microclimate cooler. A built up area of asphalt and concrete have no soil to retain moisture. The shallow turf strips and token saplings planted along the sidewalk cannot do anything significant.
>>1522271Fuck climate change. Summer fall winter spring. It should stop changing so much
