Moscow's 2010 Heat Wave Revisited

Some quotes from the BBC News concerning the August 2010 Moscow Heat Wave.

"Those who remain in the city of 10.5m people were being urged to wear face masks if they ventured outdoors, and to hang wet towels indoors to attract dust and cool the airflow. Most apartments in the city lack air conditioning and there are media reports of wealthier citizens moving out of their homes into hotels, shopping malls, offices and private cars."

So, if Moscow will face more heat waves --- then its residents will install air conditioning to protect the population.  This Article  tells an interesting "cobweb" story about the firms selling air conditioning units. Because 2009's summer was cool, these firms held low amounts of air conditioning inventory and were surprised by the demand during the July 2010 heat.  The lessons learned from the Summer of 2010 will convince them to hold larger inventories to sell to people seeking to beat the heat and this competition will mean that equilibrium prices of air conditioners will be lower and more people will be able to afford them.

Moving forward, Climate scientists will be better able to predict heat waves a few days before they unfold and spreading this information to people will allow them to choose their best coping strategy.  Businesses in Moscow could offer air conditioning to allow people to escape the heat.  For example, movie theaters offer AC.

Now, these coping strategies will require electricity.  So -- in this case adaptation efforts exacerbate mitigation efforts.

Will the City of Moscow protect the urban poor against the heat waves? In New York City, there are community cooling centers where people can go on hot days (read this).  Does NYC invest in this because it is wealthy or because it "is nice"?   This is an example of how a wealthy city
can use its resources to help its residents to cope with climate change.  Moscow will pursue similar strategies and future heat waves will cause less death and pain.