Climate change in Germany - Development, Consequences, Risks and Prospects (2nd edition, in German only)

The new edition of the compendium ‘Climate Change in Germany’ shows the challenges and offers solutions

Cover: „Klimawandel in Deutschland“ (2nd edition)

Climate change is progressing. It varies from region to region, but one thing is certain: its effects will also be felt in all areas of life in Germany, or in some cases already are. The Climate Service Center Germany (GERICS), an institution of the Helmholtz Zentrum Hereon, has republished the open access book ‘Climate Change in Germany’. In it, 165 researchers write about these effects in 39 chapters and present options for action. A completely new section with five chapters is dedicated to the topics of emissions reduction, including in the transport sector, passive CO₂ storage using nature-based solutions and methods for active CO₂ removal.

Prof Daniela Jacob, Director of the Climate Service Center Germany (GERICS) and co-editor: "Climate change affects all sectors that affect us and our natural and socio-economic environment. As a responsible generation, we must therefore take responsibility for our previous unsustainable actions on the basis of all the scientific knowledge we have gained and use this privilege of knowledge to take targeted action - also in order to leave our children and grandchildren a planet worth living on. Greenhouse gas emissions must therefore be reduced significantly and continuously. At the same time, we must adapt to the climate changes that have already occurred and those that are expected in the medium term."

The book and e-book present various options for action that are discussed. The call for more joined-up thinking on climate protection and adaptation, which is contained in the recently published European Climate Risk Assessments (EUCRA) of the European Environment Agency (EEA), is also reflected in this book: it provides background information and food for thought for various sectors and thus represents a valuable scientific basis for adaptation and climate protection activities in individual regions and sectors.

The compendium (first edition 2016) shows the complexity of the problem: An increase in the risk of storm surges, more precipitation and increased wind activity in winter, heavy rainfall and flooding, drought, heatwaves and drying out of the soil in summer - the problem is so complex and has a global impact on the economy and society. The answers must therefore be equally diverse and adequate. Possible courses of action for Germany are also considered in the book.

Comprehensive effects

Between 1881 and 2020, annual winter precipitation in Germany increased by an average of 27 per cent; in the same period, the average near-surface air temperature over Germany rose by around 1.6 degrees Celsius. These trends are likely to continue, as is the increasing number of heavy rainfall events. In summer, heavy rainfall events often lead to erosion when the rain falls on parched soils. As a result, fertile topsoil is lost and nutrient reserves diminish. This situation is severely affecting our soils and reducing their ability to store CO₂, which is further fuelling climate change.

Climate change affects agriculture, energy production, tourism, the oceans as carbon reservoirs and coastal ecosystems and, last but not least, human health, and therefore also has far-reaching direct consequences for people. It is fair to say that climate change is making us ill, even in the literal sense: young children, pregnant women, chronically ill and elderly people and allergy sufferers in particular are at risk from increasing global warming.

Options for action

Limiting climate change and adapting to its effects should always be considered together by decision-makers. The main focus in the area of climate mitigation is on our use of energy to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and ‘net zero’ must be achieved by the middle of the century at the latest. No more must be emitted than can be removed from the atmosphere through natural and technical processes.

This requires rapid technological innovations to actively remove CO₂: Greenhouse gases must be removed from the atmosphere and permanently stored so that the emissions balance ideally slips into negative territory. The transformation of land use, the rewetting of peatlands and the afforestation of forests are also very effective in binding CO₂.

Furthermore, climate-friendly urban planning is required. Urban areas in particular must be made ‘climate-ready’, i.e. remodelled, especially with regard to heat waves and heavy rainfall - and this must be effective in the long term. Close co-operation at and between all planning levels is essential. The common goal is to improve resilience to weather and climate extremes. A change of perspective can also be helpful here: To what extent does your own lifestyle contribute to achieving the Paris climate targets (‘Paris lifestyle’)? How climate-friendly are we really acting? This publication also provides valuable impetus in this regard.

The book is edited by Guy P. Brasseur, Daniela Jacob and Susanne Schuck-Zöller and is available as a printed copy and as an e-book (open access).

Press release on idw (in German only)

Further information

Guy P. Brasseur, Daniela Jacob, Susanne Schuck-Zöller (Hrsg.) Klimawandel in Deutschland. Entwicklung, Folgen, Risiken und Perspektiven. 2nd revised and expanded edition (in German only), Springer/Spektrum, Heidelberg 2023

ISBN 978-3-662-6669-1 (Buch): € 42,79 (Germany)

ISBN 978-3-662-6669-8 (E-Book): Open Access

Click here for the eBook (Open Access)

The editors

Prof. Dr Guy Brasseur and Prof. Dr Daniela Jacob, former Director and current Director of the Climate Service Center Germany (GERICS) / Helmholtz-Zentrum Hereon, and Susanne Schuck-Zöller, who also took on the project management and editing, were supported by scientists who each supervised the content of one of the six parts of the book as editors.

Media contact

Further information