Andrew Dessler Adaptation as a Joke
Motoko Rich and Josephine de La Bruyère “Many Italians Long Resisted Air-Conditioning. Then Europe Got Hotter,” New York Times (September 4, 2026)
Amid record-breaking temperatures on the continent, households and businesses in Italy are increasingly installing cooling units.
The proportion of households in Italy that have installed air-conditioning grew to 56 percent in 2024, the last year for which data is available, from just under 30 percent in 2013, according to government statistics.
The rise in air-conditioning in Italy also reflects the units’ increasing affordability.
“It used to be a luxury product,” said Vincenzo Principato, 52, owner of an electronics shop in Agrigento. Now, an influx of Chinese-made units has helped to lower the average cost of a fuel-efficient air-conditioner to less than $350, Mr. Principato said — from the equivalent of $1,800 two decades ago.
Luigi Gabriele, president of Consumerismo No Profit, a nonprofit that lobbies for consumer rights, said, “Anywhere in Italy, you grab an air-conditioner, plug it in, connect the hoses, and you’re off.”
“You can even buy them at the supermarket,” he added.
Air-conditioning is a classic example of “maladaptation, where you adapt to the changing climate by essentially using a solution that increases the problem in the first place,” said Steven Bland, an urban expert at the World Resources Institute, a think tank in London that focuses on climate issues.
Global Air Conditioning: Adaptation in Action (July 21, 2026).
Climate Alarmists Sweat “Aircon” (July 13, 2026)
Air Conditioning vs. Climate Activism: UK/EU Face the Music (July 1, 2026)
Texas A&M’s Dessler Joins Texas Air Conditioning Contractors Association (April 1, 2026)
Air Conditioning: Thank You Fossil Fuels (July 5, 2023)
Summer Air Conditioning: Stay Comfortable! (July 23, 2019)
“What is needed is universally affordable air conditioning, which means inexpensive power to run the units. The Green New Deal and, specifically, a carbon tax, whether during the summer cooling peak or the winter heating peak, is a death wish for humane, comfortable living.”
Conditioned Air: Let’s Go! (climate politics at war with itself) (August 3, 2022)
Adapt, Europe (stop whining) (August 28, 2026)
Adaptation Momentum, Mitigation Fatigue (August 5, 2026)
Adaptation: Think About It www.masterresource.org/adaptation/adaptation-free-market-jihadist/ (July 2, 2026)
Climate Adaptation vs. Mitigation Fail (June 12, 2025)