The heavy rains in West Germany are devastating. According to scientists, such extreme weather events could become more frequent in the future. Is the country prepared for this?
Berlin – It is a nightmare that has torn thousands of people from their everyday lives within a few hours. The heavy rain events in North Rhine-Westphalia and Rhineland-Palatinate are unusually heavy, the number of deaths has long since exceeded that of the flood of the century in 2002.
Scientists are convinced that extreme weather phenomena are also linked to climate change. “If the temperature rises by two degrees Celsius or even more, we have to reckon with much more severe extreme weather events,” says the head of the Federal Environment Agency (UBA), Dirk Messner. The earth has already heated up by around 1.2 degrees compared to pre-industrial times.
Without climate protection, the situation will get worse
According to the UBA data, unchecked climate change would cause considerable damage to nature, infrastructure and the economic system in Germany. And the heavy rain events in West Germany have also clearly shown, according to Messner: Without ambitious climate protection, the situation will get worse. But also without adapting to the new challenges.
Because: If states and municipalities do not take measures to be prepared against torrential downpours or heat waves like recently in Canada, many human lives are at risk.
The chairman of the German Alliance for Climate Change and Health, Martin Herrmann, assumes that health care is currently not optimally adjusted to extreme weather. “Most hospitals have prepared plans for how to deal with the mass influx of injured or sick people. But it is completely unclear whether they will be able to maintain their own performance in terms of structure and personnel in extreme weather events, ”says Herrmann. He criticizes the fact that there are no heat protection plans for clinics or practices across the board.
Even the people themselves often do not know what to do in an unexpected emergency, says Professor Boris Lehmann, who teaches hydraulic engineering and hydraulics at the Technical University of Darmstadt. “People all too often underestimate the power and speed of water.” In dangerous situations, people tend to hold onto belongings, such as cars or objects in the basement, instead of immediately getting to safety. From his point of view, more education, already in elementary school, is urgently needed.
Schulze suggests changing the Basic Law
Even if the citizen alone will not be able to resolve it. Federal Environment Minister Svenja Schulze believes that the federal and state governments must work together to find new ways of adapting to climate change. To this end, the SPD politician even surprisingly suggests changing the Basic Law. This is the only way for the federal government to make funds available for climate protection on a permanent basis. So far, his hands are tied.
“We now have to answer this national catastrophe nationally,” is Schulze’s appeal. The first nationwide advice center on climate adaptation in municipalities was only launched at the beginning of July. It helps and advises in care or homeless shelters, for example, so that residents can sit in the shade at maximum temperatures. Among other things – because: The need for adjustment is enormous.
The call for new structures could also get louder in disaster control. In times of peace, the Länder are solely responsible here too. While helpers are rescuing people from balconies, the federal government does not want to talk about how well or badly Germany is in disaster control.
The deputy government spokeswoman Martina Fietz only says that the “proven structures of disaster relief in municipalities and states will continue to work successfully”. Forces of the Bundeswehr, the technical relief organization and the federal police are in use. “If necessary, they will be further strengthened.”
A relic from the post-war period
But are the processes in which every second counts really still up to date? The Bundeswehr, which is currently clearing blocked roads in North Rhine-Westphalia and Rhineland-Palatinate with heavy equipment and rescuing people by helicopter, is only allowed to act formally when the federal states and municipalities ask for “administrative assistance”. A relic from the post-war period.
Beyond the question of a redistribution of competencies, environmental associations are calling for immediate measures to advance climate adaptation in Germany. The chairman of the Federation for the Environment and Nature Conservation Germany (BUND), Olaf Bandt, suggests “putting flood protection, which has been neglected up to now, at the center of politics”. For example, in addition to larger rivers, smaller rivers will also have to play an important role in the future, says Bandt.
It is unclear whether serious accidents can be averted in this way. According to the Federal Environment Agency (UBA), it has not yet been possible to make statistically reliable statements about heavy precipitation in the future. The only thing that is clear is that climate change has long since arrived in Germany – and will not simply pull away again like a temporary low weather. dpa
