Heat alarm for worms: 91% suffer from extreme heat stress!

Heat alarm for worms: 91% suffer from extreme heat stress!

In Germany, cities face a serious challenge in dealing with the oppressive heat. Loud Mercuryist More than 12 million people in urban areas are exposed to extreme heat stress. A key example of this is Worms, where an impressive 91 percent of the population lives in heavily polluted zones. The “Heat Check 2.0” published by German Environmental Aid (DUH) in June 2024 includes 190 cities with more than 50,000 inhabitants and shows alarming trends.

In the heat check, a “heat impact index” (HBI) was determined, which takes various factors into account. These include the average surface temperature between June and August, the degree of sealing of settlement and traffic areas as well as the density of green spaces and the population density. With an average surface temperature of around 38 degrees, Worms has one of the highest values ​​in summer.

Heat in the city: a serious problem

The numbers speak for themselves: 53 percent of the settlement and traffic areas in Worms are sealed. This means there is less room for cool, vegetated areas that could act as natural air conditioning. In total, around 3,000 people have died every year in Germany in recent years due to extreme heat; older people and people with previous health problems are particularly affected, as the Robert Koch Institute notes. Certain social neighborhoods are also more severely affected because they often lack the necessary infrastructure to reduce heat.

While many cities in northern Germany, such as Flensburg and Kiel, get off relatively lightly, places like Mannheim, Ludwigshafen and Worms are at the top of the list of those affected by the heat. Frankfurt am Main is also classified in the “red” category. These developments raise fundamental questions about the quality of life and health of urban residents, and there is an urgent need for measures to adapt to climatic changes.

Heat reduction strategies

The DUH calls for binding requirements for minimum green areas in cities. To date, the conversion of many urban spaces remains an unsolved problem. Initiatives such as the “sponge city” concept, which uses green roofs, green facades and new tree plantations, are necessary to reduce urban heat islands. Weather.com points out that cities like Gummersbach and Witten are already pioneers due to their high proportion of greenery and their low level of sealing.

The national urban development policy has also taken up the topic of “heat in the city” as a focus topic and plans to further address the need for increased heat resilience in the coming months. The measures to improve the urban climate are urgent. Without immediate and thoughtful interventions, the quality of life in our cities could be seriously jeopardized.