Global warming appears to have shifted into a faster gear. After removing the effects of El Niño, volcanic eruptions, and solar cycles, researchers found that the planet has warmed at roughly 0.35°C per decade over the past ten years, compared with just under 0.2°C per decade from 1970 to 2015. The acceleration, which becomes visible around 2013 to 2015, appeared across five major global temperature datasets with more than 98% statistical certainty.
Our homes are built to isolate, and the apartment building i live in is older than most of the buildings currently existing in the US that are used as living space. It’s from the 1920s, and although it was modernized in the 2000s, the basic attributes don’t change. They were never built with heatwaves in mind, they were constructed to make sure you didn’t freeze to death in winter. A large percentage of available living spaces here are constructed this way.
A) there is no AC, and the European Window Style does not make it easy to retrofit, in addition to needing permits - these are historical buildings that are protected by law, preventing most permanent changes to the facade, and rentals are the default in Vienna, so you are messing with someone else’s property.
B) short bouts of heat are no issue because of the isolating attributes, but long term heat slowly seeps in, and it’s hard to cool the rooms back down again. I only open my windows after sunset and close them shortly after sunrise, while hanging cloth into them on the outside to prevent direct sun, but when the nights dont drop below 25°c, you can’t get the heat out fast enough.
C) Our infrastructure is only slowly catching up. Even things like older hospitals or care facilities dont have HVAC. At least nowadays most public transport has AC, but that is a pretty new thing.
So no, our infrastructure at large is not made to deal with long stretches of 40°c heat. It was made when we still had -25°c winters and 30°c were noteworthy.