Heat shock in Vienna's old buildings: Families suffer from unbearable 30 degrees!

Heat shock in Vienna's old buildings: Families suffer from unbearable 30 degrees!

In the past few days, glowing temperatures in Vienna, and the old building apartments, which are particularly unanimated. Measurements from the University of Natural Sciences (BOKU) show that temperatures above 30 degrees increase in some apartments. The investigations that take place in cooperation with Greenpeace and Volkshilfe in nine Viennese apartments show that all unused old buildings have temperatures above 27 degrees. It is particularly concerned that values ​​above 30 degrees were even measured in four apartments. Poor families in particular suffer from the overwhelming heat, such as the press.

A comparison between the old building and the new building illustrates the problem: While the old building apartment heats up much faster and cooler, it was only about 11 hours in the new apartment than outside than outside. In contrast, the residents of the old buildings sweated for more than 15 hours under unbearable temperatures. Greenpeace and Volkshilfe urgently call for a renovation offensive from the federal government, which recently deleted environmentally friendly funding. This comes across violent criticism.

The urban heat island effect

But where does this extreme warmth come from in the cities? The so-called urban heat isolated (Uhi effect) is largely responsible for this. Cities that consist of asphalt, concrete, steel and glass, save heat, which leads to massive temperature differences between urban and rural areas on the summer nights. As explained [National Geographic] (https://www.nationalgeographic.de/umwelt/2022/07/hitzinseleffekt-warum-es-in-unser-staedtte-s-ist- and-was-dagegen-hilft/), in which the temperatures are above 20 degrees, in cities up to three times more often than in the outskirts.

The future forecasts are alarming: climate change will further increase the frequency of heat days and tropical nights. This not only leads to extreme temperatures, but also affects the health of the city dwellers. In addition, an increasing use of air conditioning systems can be observed. These have more than doubled since 1990, as the statistics show, but which can raise the urban air temperature locally by up to 3 degrees Celsius.

actively against the heat

How can Viennese go against the oppressive heat themselves? Experts recommend more green spaces in the city, shading by trees and plants as well as the greening of roofs and facades. Old trees are particularly important because they can lower the air temperature by up to 5 degrees Celsius. However, many street trees only have a short lifespan and are heavily burdened by compacted soil and pollutants in their surroundings. A rethink is required to improve the quality of life in the city and to actively control against climate change.

This is how activists from Fridays for Future in Vienna also come on the scene. They address in their climate protection demonstrations that the extreme temperatures in the cities must not be ignored. Your demands include compliance with the 2040 climate goals, in particular a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 90 percent. Dealing with so-called loopholes, such as the purchase of international CO2 certificates, is also up for debate. The activists direct their protest directly to Federal Minister Norbert Tettschnig (ÖVP) and the entire government.

The responsibility is now on the shoulders of the political decision -makers. A timely renovation offensive could help many Viennese families suffer from the oppressive temperatures. It remains to be hoped that there will be enough pressure to initiate the necessary measures.