Bavaria is preparing: Heat action plans for endangered citizens!

Bavaria is preparing: Heat action plans for endangered citizens!

In Germany, the temperatures rise and this increases the risk of health effects due to heat waves. In response to this challenge, numerous cities in Bavaria, including Straubing, Nuremberg and Bayreuth, are working on heat action plans. The focus is on the vulnerable groups in particular: older people, pregnant women, infants and people with previous illnesses are particularly at risk, as Bavaria's Minister of Health Judith Gerlach (CSU) emphasizes. She announced that the municipalities will work closely together to develop specific measures to avoid heat. These include, among other things, the construction of further drinking water wells and the creation of shady places in urban areas.

Currently 90 drinking water fountain is installed in Munich; This number should increase to around 100 by the end of the year. The city has created interactive maps that not only show the locations of the wells, but also cooler places such as parks and churches. Particularly noteworthy is the heat action plan in Nuremberg, which was adopted in 2022 and, among other things, offers a heat telephone for older people. Würzburg only developed a heat action plan in 2023 because it is considered a hotspot of climate change.

rising temperatures and heat warnings

The German Weather Service defines a heat wave as a temperature above 28 degrees on at least three consecutive days. In the coming days, the 30-degree mark could be exceeded for the first time this year in Bavaria. Federal Minister of Health Karl Lauterbach presented a heat protection plan in July 2023, the aim of which is to inform risk groups in particular about heat protection measures. Among other things, general practitioners should advise those affected individually and use warnings of the German Weather Service of impending heat waves.

In 2023, an estimated 3,200 people in Germany suffered health consequences due to high temperatures that led to death, according to the estimates of the Robert Koch Institute (RKI). Heat can often not be given as a direct cause of death; Rather, it often leads to health damage in combination with existing previous illnesses.

urban measures for heat prevention

The challenges of climate change now require a variety of measures in different cities. In Stuttgart and Freiburg, for example, there are special heat buses that mainly offer homeless people. Hanover has organized the provision of drinking water and hygiene articles for homeless people. In the meantime, in other cities, such as Mannheim, the afforestation in the cities is promoted to alleviate the effects of heat waves. There, a thousand new trees are to be planted there to create a sustainable improvement in urban environmental conditions.

The greening of roofs and facades as well as the removal of soils is sought in many cities. All of these measures are part of a comprehensive strategy in order to better prepare cities for the challenges of climate change and to minimize the health risks through extreme warmth. Together with the federal states and municipalities, a national concept is being worked on to effectively protect the population from the health risks of the heat.