The UK is one of the countries that will have to adapt the most radically to cool down buildings as climate change drives up average temperatures, a University of Oxford study has found.

Like other countries in Northern Europe, homes in the UK were built to retain heat during cold winters.

But rising temperatures because of climate change means more unwanted heat during the summer, which can be fatal for older and more vulnerable people.

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Researchers from Oxford have measured the increase in the number of “cooling degree days” (CDDs) for countries around the world if and when the Earth’s average temperature increases from 1.5C to 2C above pre-industrial levels.

CDDs refer to how frequently and how far above a baseline of 18C the temperature rises in a particular area.

Oxford Mail:

In the UK, the current mean average of CDDs is 36 and this is expected to rise to 69 if the global average temperature reaches 1.5C.

If the global temperature rises still further to 2C, the number of average CDDs will be 89 – a rise of just under 30% from 1.5C, the study found.

She also said that “no country is shielded from these impacts” and that northern countries will also have to radically adapt.

Dr Nicole Miranda, lead author of the study, said: “In the northern hemisphere in Europe, the buildings are made to keep heat in.

“And so we are at risk in the summertime, when heatwaves come or when higher temperatures in general come that we overheat our buildings.

“Even a small increase in the temperatures are actually showing a high relative change which can be very impactful and make these countries more vulnerable to needing more cooling.

“And of course, these increases in relative change are going to mean that we need deployment of cooling adaptation measures at a fast speed and at a large scale.”

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Dr Miranda warned against not preparing for the rising heat and then later taking the easier option of installing air conditioning, which would be inefficient and only exacerbate the problem.

Some of the solutions proposed for retrofitting buildings were to introduce ventilation measures that could also be closed off to keep in heat during winter and extendable shading covers such as awnings or more trees next to buildings to reflect the suns rays.

The researchers also suggested having personal fans that cool only the space occupied by people and not entire rooms that are empty, or for buildings where air condition is necessary, installing a heat pump that can cool in summer and warm in winter.