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‘The future is already here’: How climate change is affecting Germany

From prolonged droughts to unpredictable weather and hotter days: the effects of global warming are already becoming increasingly noticeable in Germany.

'The future is already here': How climate change is affecting Germany
Youngsters playing in the Hopfensee in Füssen, Bavaria, on an extremely hot day in July. Photo: DPA

Now a new report has shone a light on how bad the situation is.

The average air temperature in Germany increased by 1.5C between 1881 and 2018, according to the German government's Climate Monitoring Report, published on Tuesday. In the past five years alone, the temperature has gone up by 0.3C.

“The consequences of climate change are becoming increasingly apparent,” said Environment Minister Svenja Schulze of the centre-left Social Democrats.

Global warming leads to higher health risks due to heat stress, while an increase in the mean surface temperature of the North Sea results in greater fluctuations in agricultural yields. Cities, in particular, need to be better prepared for heat, heavy rainfall and flooding.

Here are the results at a glance:

– The increase of the mean temperature will lead to more hot days in Germany when the temperature rises above 30C. Whereas in 1951 there was an average of three days of extreme heat per year, there are now 10.

– The report lists heat-related deaths in Germany for the first time. Around 7,500 more people died in 2003 than would have been expected without heat waves. In both 2006 and 2015, there were 6,000 additional deaths each year.

– Over the past 10 years, prolonged drought has increasingly led to low groundwater levels. As a result, some communities have had problems with drinking water supplies.

READ ALSO: Climate crisis: Berlin to be 'as hot as Australia' in 30 years

The six large reservoirs in the Harzwasserwerke, Lower Saxony, were only 46 percent full in September. Photo: DPA

– Low water levels in rivers affect not only the ecosystem, but also the economy, because ships can only navigate through rivers in these conditions to a limited extent. Plus the supply of cooling water to power plants and industry is endangered.

– The available water in agricultural soils has declined significantly over the past 50 years, the report said. In 2018, heat and drought caused €700 million of damage to agriculture.

The study shows that climate change is not an abstract problem for future generations. “The future has already reached us,” said Maria Krautzberger, President of the Federal Environment Agency (UBA), which was also involved in putting together the report.

READ ALSO: What does Germany's planned climate protection package mean for you?

The effects of climate change need to be researched further. “It is conceivable that the federal government and the states will support and finance a special climate protection programme,” said Krautzberger.

UN report on global emissions

The UN has warned that the current measures in the fight against climate change are not sufficient. Countries would have to step up their efforts immensely if they were to jointly achieve the target of a global temperature increase of no more than 1.5C, according to a study by the UN Environment Programme Unep, which was also unveiled on Tuesday.

If the world's population continues to live as it does today, the temperature could rise by up to 3.9C by the end of the century instead of the 1.5C target, compared to pre-industrial levels.

From December 2nd to 13th, representatives from 200 countries will meet at the UN Climate Change Conference in Madrid to discuss the fight against climate change.

READ ALSO: What are the key points of Merkel's new climate strategy?

Vocabulary

Global warming – (die) Erderwärmung

Consequences – (die) Folgen

Heat related deaths – (die) hitzebedingte Todesfälle

German government's climate report – (der) Klimabericht der Bundesregierung

Drought – (die) Dürre / (die) Trockenheit

We're aiming to help our readers improve their German by translating vocabulary from some of our news stories. Did you find this article useful? Let us know.

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GERMAN WORD OF THE DAY

German word of the day: Tagundnachtgleiche

This March equinox marks the astronomical beginning of spring in the northern hemisphere, and occurs on the 20th this year. Did you know there are two German terms for this day?

German word of the day: Tagundnachtgleiche

Why do I need to know ‘Tagundnachtgleiche’?

You may hear this word a lot on Wednesday, and then probably not again until the autumnal equinox comes in September.

More of a novel term than one for everyday use, Die Tagundnachtgleiche is one you can use to impress German speakers with your knowledge of heavens and the earth, and your expansive vocabulary.

What does it mean?

Tagundnachtgleiche is the German word for equinox, which is the day when the sun crosses the celestial equator, making the day and night equal in length and also marking a change of seasons.

Alternatively the word Äquinoktium is also used for equinox.

Each year contains two equinoxes: a spring equinox (Frühlings-Tagundnachtgleiche or Frühjahrs-Tagundnachtgleiche) and a fall equinox (Herbst-Tagundnachtgleiche).

The spring equinox, which falls on March 20th this year, marks the beginning of spring. From this day forward, daylight hours in the northern hemisphere will continue getting longer until the summer solstice.

READ ALSO: Seven signs that spring has arrived in Germany

The word equinox comes from Latin and literally means “equal night”, meaning that the night is equal to the day (or more specifically that the hours of darkness are equal to the hours of daylight.)

In this case, the German term leaves nothing to be deduced. The word is a short phrase put together – Tag und Nacht Gleiche – meaning “day and night equality”.

Equinox traditions

The Spring Equinox and the beginning of the spring season is cause for celebration in cultures around the world, and is often linked with traditions related to rebirth, renewal and fertility.

Among pre-Christian Germanic tribes such as the Saxons, a spring Goddess called Ostara, was celebrated on the Spring Equinox with a feast day and other traditions such as planting seeds or decorating eggs. Traditional symbols for Ostara included rabbits and ducklings.

It is widely believed that some of these traditions were later adopted and Catholicised, leading to the creation of Easter (Ostern) as we know it today. 

Use it like this:

In diesem Jahr findet die Frühlings-Tagundnachtgleiche zwischen dem 19. und 20. März statt.

This year the spring equinox is between March 19th and 20th.

Glückliche Tagundnachtgleiche!

Happy equinox!

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