widthThe German Meteorological Agency’s forecasts show how climate change will change Germany. After that, winters are wetter and warmer, summers are hotter, and dry periods are longer. Overall, extreme weather events may increase significantly. Although there is no land rain in summer to keep the soil moist, there is less rainfall but heavy rain; meteorologists will talk about this when the precipitation per square meter per hour reaches 25 liters.
In the past few years, they have performed local performances in the summer. A city like Offenbach was flooded by rain in the same place three times in five years. The entire area can be submerged in a few minutes.
Many cities have performed a hazard analysis: this can be used to reliably determine where more heat islands are forming. The important influencing factors are the built density of a community, how many parks and fresh air corridors there are. In North Rhine-Westphalia and Hesse, analysis of individual cities shows that in particularly affected areas, the number of facilities for children and the elderly is higher than average.
Every Tuesday
So far, it has mainly been publicity activities that have promoted the municipality’s development of high temperatures; this includes requiring regular ventilation and drinking water. Although new buildings are sometimes designed to be more heat-resistant and can absorb water through plants and reservoirs, adjustments to old houses are much more difficult to implement.
Check climate adaptation
For certain areas of the city, many places have identified special flood disasters. Short-term forecasts of heavy rain are often affected by strong fluctuations. In cities, there are different concepts for absorbing heavy rainfall: for example, sometimes the playground is lowered as a return pond. In Copenhagen, due to flooding, the steps of the underground entrance have increased.
So far, climate adaptation is mainly the responsibility of municipalities. Just a few days ago, the Heihuang State Government of North Rhine-Westphalia introduced an adaptation law: Among them, the State Office of Nature, Environment and Consumer Protection will initiate climate impact monitoring. The Climate Adaptation Advisory Committee will formulate a national strategy. The plan is to promote the concept of municipality and provide a point of contact for companies seeking solutions to reduce water consumption. According to the law of North Rhine-Westphalia, public planning projects must be reviewed in the future based on established goals.
High cost of trees
So far, in North Rhine-Westphalia, as in many other federal states, climate adaptation has been a voluntary task. This means that indebted cities under financial supervision can only take limited measures.
Examples of urban trees, many of which have disappeared in recent years, suggesting that new trees should already have a certain size, but at the same time they must be watered within many years. In the summer vacation, this is related to high personnel expenditures.
The Ministry of Environment, the Ministry of the Interior and the Ministry of Economy have all launched federal programs to promote municipal construction, some of which have been heavily oversubscribed. Many places now have temporary positions for climate adaptation managers, and they should maintain an overview of cross-cutting issues. Almost all departments of an administrative department are affected.
