According to a study, climate change increases the likelihood of extreme rainfall and, consequently, flood disasters. The weather in Germany is also affected.
Offenbach – How much climate crisis is hidden behind the flood disasters? An international team of scientists, including those from the German Weather Service (DWD) * based in Offenbach *, has an answer to this question: According to a study published on Tuesday (August 24th, 2021), climate change increases the likelihood of extreme events Rainfalls and consequently flood disasters.
The weather in Germany was only recently affected: In July, at least 180 people lost their lives in the flood disaster in Rhineland-Palatinate and North Rhine-Westphalia *. According to the information, an average of 93 liters of rain * per square meter had fallen around the rivers Ahr and Erft every day – a high since the weather records began.
According to the study, climate change will continue to contribute to triggering such flood disasters in the future. “The local and national Western European authorities have to be aware of these growing risks from heavy rain in order to be better prepared for possible future extreme weather events,” said Frank Kreienkamp, head of the DWD’s Potsdam Regional Climate Office.
Weather in Germany: DWD confirms higher probability of flood disasters
Under the current climatic conditions, it is to be expected that a certain region in Western Europe will be affected by flood disasters around once every 400 years. If the average temperatures continue to rise, such extreme rainfalls become more frequent: If it is another 0.8 degrees warmer, the frequency increases to every 300 years, according to the study. In addition, the intensity of the heavy rain would also increase further.
In the study, the researchers looked at France, western Germany, the eastern part of Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg and northern Switzerland. As part of the World Weather Attribution Initiative, they dealt with the question of how high the probability of similar extreme rainfall in the respective regions, including the weather in Germany, is and what effects climate change has on it.
The probability of such catastrophes occurring has therefore increased by a factor of between 1.2 and 9 compared to the end of the 19th century. In addition, the maximum amount of rain is between 3 and 19 percent greater.
Weather in Germany: Environmental associations call on the federal government to tighten climate protection measures
In response to this study, environmental groups called on the federal government to tighten climate protection measures. “This is a final wake-up call to politicians to finally reduce greenhouse gas emissions through effective measures instead of pursuing climate protection through mere target definitions,” said NABU Federal Managing Director Leif Miller. “If the greenhouse gases are really to be reduced by 65 percent by 2030, there is no alternative to phasing out coal by 2030.”
A special session of the German Bundestag on Wednesday (August 24th, 2021) will deal with reconstruction aid for affected flood regions. There, too, the effects of the climate on the weather in Germany will be an issue. With a view to this, the environmentalists advise that flood protection should be redesigned ecologically. “To rebuild everything in the same place would mean exposing people and buildings to the risk of destruction again,” said Sascha Müller-Kraenner, Federal Managing Director of Deutsche Umwelthilfe.
A good reconstruction program creates natural floodplains, renatures water bodies or restores the landscape’s storage capacity through adapted management. “This is the only way to mitigate the devastating consequences of future heavy rain events.” (Yasemin Kamisli with dpa) * op.online.de is an offer from IPPEN.MEDIA.
