Impacts of Climate Change: What We Can Do! Tips for Effective Adaptation

Always maintain kitchen hygiene when preparing food: thorough handwashing and using fresh kitchen utensils after handling raw meat, fish, and seafood are essential to prevent infections.

Wear gloves when processing meat, fish, and seafood (especially during heatwaves) to avoid pathogens entering through unnoticed skin injuries.

Food safety depends heavily on an unbroken cold chain, especially during hot weather. Maintain it at barbecues or picnics by using cool bags or boxes, ensuring adequate cooling temperatures. Never leave meat or other easily perishable foods outdoors.

Where possible, ensure adequate shading (e.g., by installing blinds or shutters). If this is not sufficient, consider using alternative cooling technologies such as district cooling.

If possible, implement measures to improve thermal comfort in outdoor residential spaces (courtyards, balconies, loggias, terraces, et cetera). These can include greening initiatives for courtyards, balconies, roofs, or façades, as well as the use of sun sails.

If you plan to build or renovate a house, keep in mind that heatwaves and flooding are likely to increase in frequency in the future.

If available, close blinds, shutters, roller shutters, awnings, and curtains during the day.

Pay attention to proper ventilation. In the early morning and evening or at night, the outdoor temperature is cooler than the air inside your home. Therefore, open windows (instead of blinds) and interior doors overnight to allow air to flow through the entire living area. Close windows and blinds as soon as the sun shines on parts of the building.

Before purchasing a portable air conditioning unit, try to cool your living environment in a climate-friendly way, for example through proper ventilation.

Try to spend your holidays in regions that promote sustainable tourism.

Take advantage of tourism offers during the shoulder seasons, such as cycling and hiking trips. Year-round options that are less dependent on the weather include culture, culinary experiences, sustainable wellness offers, sightseeing, and city breaks.

When choosing your holiday destination, check whether it is accessible by public transport and whether there are climate-friendly mobility options available on site.

Avoid unnecessary trips, especially during extreme weather conditions (e.g. heat, heavy rain, thunderstorms). This protects the climate and increases your personal safety.

During hot weather, if possible, schedule your activities and travel during the cooler hours of the day and carry enough drinking water. Use shaded areas when walking or cycling.

When cycling or walking in the heat, protect yourself with appropriate clothing, head coverings, and sunscreen. Vulnerable groups—such as children, the elderly, or people with disabilities—should receive special protection.

It is important to inform yourself proactively about how vulnerable you and your home or apartment are to various natural hazards and climate risks such as floods, storms, hail, and snow. Use trusted information systems like the HORA platform for natural hazard detection (hora.gv.at) or the regional GIS systems.

To be warned in time before extreme events, keep yourself updated through the media and apps. Use established early warning systems such as the weather warnings from Geosphere Austria or KATWARN from the Ministry of the Interior.

Austria’s disaster protection and relief efforts would not be as effective without the commitment of many volunteers in the fire and rescue services. Therefore, if possible, get involved and find out proactively how you can help in an emergency.