ᐅ The frequency of tornadoes in Germany is increasing significantly
Created on: 21 May 2022 03:25
A
Anoxio
Hello everyone,
Climate change seems to have arrived here in recent years. Right now, we are experiencing tornadoes again in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, with fatalities and over 40 injured. When I look at the density of tornadoes in Germany over the past years, decades, and centuries on Wikipedia at https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liste_von_Tornados_in_Europa, it can really make your head spin. The increase in tornadoes is undeniable...
Something for the climate would probably not be entirely wrong! Houses and roofs built in the conventional way may soon no longer be sufficient!
Climate change seems to have arrived here in recent years. Right now, we are experiencing tornadoes again in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, with fatalities and over 40 injured. When I look at the density of tornadoes in Germany over the past years, decades, and centuries on Wikipedia at https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liste_von_Tornados_in_Europa, it can really make your head spin. The increase in tornadoes is undeniable...
Something for the climate would probably not be entirely wrong! Houses and roofs built in the conventional way may soon no longer be sufficient!
Are our houses in Germany really that poorly prepared for weather events? I don’t think so, especially when I think of those American wooden board structures that get completely blown away in every storm.
As bad as climate change is, I’m not too worried about my house at the moment. My stance remains: simply have building insurance / home insurance, and that should be enough in the context of a house-building forum.
As bad as climate change is, I’m not too worried about my house at the moment. My stance remains: simply have building insurance / home insurance, and that should be enough in the context of a house-building forum.
Yes, I admit it *lol I plead guilty to going off-topic 😉
But I just think they belong together because it’s about being human and human nature.
Improving healthcare obviously requires not only more money but significantly better working conditions – by the way, in North Rhine-Westphalia, the staff at all university hospitals have been on strike for about two weeks now, and no one seems to care or even reportsmuch about it.
Back to the climate:
Yes, we built a house too, though just a semi-detached one. Of course, we don’t need 145 sqm (1560 sq ft) for three people.
What do we do to compensate? I’ll just list a few randomly:
- House: brick façade, no external thermal insulation composite system (ETICS) with styrofoam, solar thermal panels on the roof, and now also photovoltaic panels
- Whenever possible, bike instead of using the car; when driving, combine multiple errands in one trip
- Grocery shopping: prioritize local food over organic, bring our own containers whenever possible, eat little meat
- Other shopping: clothes purchased as sustainably as possible, generally avoid buying unnecessary stuff
- Natural garden with a lawn
- We don’t fly
I think our house is storm-proof, but probably not tornado-resistant, and we don’t have a basement either. Yesterday I even said we might need a bunker in the garden – and I’m not sure how much of that was a joke 🙄
But I just think they belong together because it’s about being human and human nature.
Improving healthcare obviously requires not only more money but significantly better working conditions – by the way, in North Rhine-Westphalia, the staff at all university hospitals have been on strike for about two weeks now, and no one seems to care or even reports
Back to the climate:
Yes, we built a house too, though just a semi-detached one. Of course, we don’t need 145 sqm (1560 sq ft) for three people.
What do we do to compensate? I’ll just list a few randomly:
- House: brick façade, no external thermal insulation composite system (ETICS) with styrofoam, solar thermal panels on the roof, and now also photovoltaic panels
- Whenever possible, bike instead of using the car; when driving, combine multiple errands in one trip
- Grocery shopping: prioritize local food over organic, bring our own containers whenever possible, eat little meat
- Other shopping: clothes purchased as sustainably as possible, generally avoid buying unnecessary stuff
- Natural garden with a lawn
- We don’t fly
I think our house is storm-proof, but probably not tornado-resistant, and we don’t have a basement either. Yesterday I even said we might need a bunker in the garden – and I’m not sure how much of that was a joke 🙄
W
WilderSueden23 May 2022 22:53Müllerin schrieb:
House: Brick cladding and no EPS-based external insulationI’m also not convinced by excessive use of polystyrene, and this is not meant as an attack, but are brick claddings really more environmentally friendly? After all, in addition to the insulated wall, you still need to fire tons of bricks with high energy consumption. And even if the facade supposedly lasts forever, will the house itself stand that long? There are plenty of houses that are demolished after 50-70 years.You’re absolutely right about that – brick cladding is only worthwhile if the house will stand for a long time or if the bricks are reused. There are already some projects like this, though still quite few, and they tend to be more expensive because of the cleaning effort involved. Hopefully, that will change in the future...
Our two concrete ceilings could also have been made more climate-friendly with wood – but the husband didn’t want to.
Nobody is perfect in everything. Everyone should just contribute what they can; that would already be a big step forward.
Our two concrete ceilings could also have been made more climate-friendly with wood – but the husband didn’t want to.
Nobody is perfect in everything. Everyone should just contribute what they can; that would already be a big step forward.
haydee schrieb:
Is wood really more climate-friendly? It usually doesn’t come from the local forest.Concrete is definitely very, very harmful to the climate. We once watched a documentary about cement production. It was not a pleasant sight.
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