MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:
Europe is in the midst of its second heat wave of the summer, and this one is shattering records. France recorded its hottest day ever on Wednesday, and as temperatures rise, so are questions about how prepared the country is to withstand this kind of extreme heat. NPR's Rebecca Rosman reports from Paris.
REBECCA ROSMAN, BYLINE: France has lived through heat waves before, but this one is exposing a new kind of vulnerability in a country largely built for a cooler climate. Record-shattering triple-digit Fahrenheit temperatures are gripping France, part of a heat wave now in its ninth day. Here in Paris, the high was 103 degrees Fahrenheit Wednesday.
I'm just walking along the Seine here. It is after 9 p.m., and the heat has not broken.
Parts of France were even hotter, comparable with temperatures in places like Phoenix or Dubai. And with the heat not expected to fully ease until the end of the weekend, people are asking - how prepared is France really for this kind of heat?
LEYLA GURSOY: The problem is just that Paris is not ready for this weather.
ROSMAN: Paris resident Leyla Gursoy is sitting on a bench with her family, who are visiting her from Germany. Everyone looks exhausted. Gursoy says the big problem here is the lack of air conditioning.
GURSOY: Other countries with people who I've talked to from India or other colleagues at work that mention that they experience this weather all the time, but they have AC in all the places that they go. And I think that's what Paris is lacking right now.
ROSMAN: Less than a quarter of French households have air conditioning. In Paris, many have been seeking relief in air-conditioned spaces like cinemas and museums. But even many of those spaces have struggled to keep up. The Louvre Museum and Eiffel Tower said they would remain open this week but would close early because of the heat.
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ROSMAN: Others have been jumping into the city's canals, temporarily opened for swimming.
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ROSMAN: But the search for relief has also brought danger.
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PRIME MINISTER SEBASTIEN LECORNU: (Speaking French).
ROSMAN: It's too early to know what the repercussions of this heat wave will be, but on Tuesday, French Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu said that 40 people across France have drowned in the last week. Most of them were minors swimming unsupervised.
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PATRICK COHEN: (Speaking French).
ROSMAN: Speaking on France Inter, presenter Patrick Cohen characterizes France's response to the heat wave - or lack thereof - as a, quote, "historical crisis."
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COHEN: (Speaking French).
ROSMAN: "We'll be talking for a long time about the June 2026 heat wave," Cohen said, "as a test, a milestone and perhaps, for some, a revelation." He pointed back to France's deadly 2003 heat wave when nearly 15,000 people died.
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COHEN: (Speaking French).
ROSMAN: "This time, it's impossible to deny that the country's climate is changing before our eyes," he said.
Rebecca Rosman, NPR News, Paris.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC) Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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