Germany, too, is already clearly feeling the effects of climate change: Extreme weather conditions and their consequences are increasingly threatening our country’s ecosystems, coasts and cities. In addition to combating the causes, strategies for protection are already in demand. There are clever concepts for this and the implementation has begun, reports bild der Wissenschaft in the May issue.
More frequent and violent: Scientists largely agree that droughts, floods and storms have increased in the wake of climate change – and so it is likely to continue. To counter this problem, the man-made causes of global warming should be combated. But it seems too late for prevention alone. So that the foundations of our life remain intact, we have to adapt them to the new climatic conditions. In addition, protective measures are necessary to avoid ecological destruction, which in turn can contribute to climate change.
In the leading article of the four-part title topic, the bdw author Jan Berndorff first explains how the consequences of climate change have emerged in Germany over the past few decades and how humans and nature are suffering from the increasing freak weather. As he reports, the corresponding need for action in Germany has been recognized and something is happening: Berndorff provides an overview of the measures that cities, rural areas and coastal regions are supposed to arm against the consequences of extreme weather. In addition to technology and construction work, near-natural solutions often play a role. Many projects also have positive side effects on society and also serve to protect the climate, according to the article.
Equipped for an uncertain future
Then the bdw author Hartmut Netz focuses on the possible solutions for the consequences of climate change in cities. There, the more frequent heat waves and heavy rain in particular cause major problems. Planners react to this with natural upgrading: They plant roofs and let urban forests sprout, which have a balancing effect. In order to identify particularly suitable plant species, plants from all over the world are tested for their climate resilience, reports Netz in the article “The green city of tomorrow”.
The third part of the title topic is also about plants: the bdw author Andrea Mertes reports on the development aid needed for the forest in the wake of climate change. The green lungs of Germany have suffered severely from heat and drought in the last few decades. Countermeasures can be taken through healthy mixed planting, which includes more drought-resistant tree species, and through more ecological forest management. Scientists are currently investigating which trees are particularly suitable in research forests, reports Mertes.
The title topic “Making Germany climate-proof” is rounded off by an interview that bdw editor-in-chief Andrea Stegemann conducted with Frank Ewert. In it, the scientific director of the Leibniz Center for Agricultural Landscape Research in Müncheberg answers questions about what climate adaptation means for agriculture.
You can find all articles on the title topic in the May issue of bild der Wissenschaft, which will be available in stores from April 20th.