Expert on heat action plans in Bavaria: "Very, very high need for action"
Created: 08/05/2022, 14:34
By: Katarina Amtmann
Bavaria is currently groaning under a heat wave (symbol image) © IMAGO / Bihlmayerfotografie
Heat action plans are important, but in Bavaria there is a lack of attention to the topic, according to an expert.
Others are further along.
Munich - In view of the increasing number of hot days in Bavaria, environmental doctor Claudia Traidl-Hoffmann sees a great need for so-called heat action plans in cities and communities.
Heat wave: Expert sees great need for action on heat action plans
These "play a very central role," said the expert from the University of Augsburg to the German Press Agency.
So far, there has been a lack of attention to the topic in Bavaria, cities like Cologne or Worms are already further along.
"There is a very, very high need for action," says the expert.
Municipalities can set out various measures in a heat action plan to protect their citizens from the heat.
The spectrum ranges from information material for people to complex infrastructure measures such as the unsealing of roads and the creation of new green spaces.
Several cities such as Nuremberg, Würzburg and Regensburg are working on a corresponding action plan.
Expert: "Germany is not prepared for heat waves"
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RKI study: Thousands of heat deaths in Germany
According to a recent study by the Robert Koch Institute, there were around 8,700 heat-related deaths in Germany in 2018, around 6,900 in 2019 and around 3,700 in 2020. Again and again, emergency rooms report higher stress on hot days.
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Traidl-Hoffmann can confirm this for the Augsburg University Hospital: "After several hot days, we see more older people with kidney diseases and cardiovascular diseases.
In addition, there are often dementia patients who forget to drink anyway and are then even more dehydrated.”
(kam/dpa)
A heat wave is currently rolling over Bavaria. Temperatures up to 40 degrees are possible. Is an end to the bull heat in sight?
