The use of air conditioning may seem like something people need a lot more in hot countries, but there is more than one reason for it to become increasingly important in the UK.

Firstly, the reality of climate change makes it necessary. Even for those who believe higher temperatures are part of some natural cycle and not the result of anthropocentric activity – chiefly the burning of fossil fuels – the reality is that temperature change is measurable.

While there is talk at the international level about keeping temperatures below 1.5 C above pre-industrial levels in line with the 2015 Paris Climate Accord targets, the more telling fact is that recent summers have recorded temperatures in the UK at over 40 degrees C for the first time.

Recent global temperatures have also reached record highs and while some of that was due to the El Nino effect as well as greenhouse gases, the World Meteorological Organization has also noted that some of the effects of warming, including hotter oceans and sea level rise, will be irreversible for centuries.

This has a further impact beyond higher temperatures because it means the effect of hotter oceans is more evaporation and therefore higher humidity. Part of this will mean more rainfall and wet days being wetter, but also that summer will be stickier, just as it feels when you visit the tropics. This will make air conditioning even more important.

It would be nice to think that steps such as adopting more green energy will help, but they may only reduce the impact of climate change, especially in a world where the United States has turned its back on the Paris Accord.

Therefore, as hot and dry days get hotter and wet days get wetter, there will be all sorts of adjustments we have to make. More and better air conditioning will help to do that.