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WEATHER

Why Germany is ‘among top three’ countries affected by climate change

Summers of heat and drought have brought climate change to the top of Germany's agenda. Now an international report shows how the damage compares to other countries.

Why Germany is 'among top three' countries affected by climate change

According to a new report by the development organization Germanwatch, the Bundesrepublik was last year one of the top three countries most severely affected by extreme weather. 

Due to the heat waves, storms and droughts of 2018, Germany was ranked third behind Japan and the Philippines in the Global Climate Risk Index 2020. Germanwatch presented their findings on Wednesday at the World Climate Conference in Madrid. 

It’s the first time Germany has climbed to such a high position in the ranking. In the long-term index, which evaluates the years 1999 to 2018, Puerto Rico, Myanmar and Haiti were the countries worst affected by storms, floods and droughts.

READ ALSO: 'The future is already here': How climate change is affecting Germany

Heatwaves were one major cause of damage in 2018. Of the 10 most affected countries in 2018, Germany, Japan and India suffered from extended periods of heat.

“The Climate Risk Index shows that climate change has disastrous impacts especially for poor countries, but also causes increasingly severe damage in industrialized countries like Japan or Germany,” said David Eckstein of Germanwatch.

“Countries like Haiti, Philippines and Pakistan are repeatedly hit by extreme weather events and have no time to fully recover. That underlines the importance of reliable financial support mechanisms for poor countries like these not only in climate change adaptation, but also for dealing with climate-induced loss and damage.”

As The Local has reported, the effects of global warming are becoming increasingly noticeable in Germany. The average air temperature in Germany increased by 1.5C between 1881 and 2018, according to the government's Climate Monitoring Report, published recently. In the past five years alone, the temperature has gone up by 0.3C.

Source: Germanwatch

The annually published Climate Risk Index is based on data from insurer Munich Re and the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

It analyzes to what extent countries and regions have been affected by impacts of weather-related loss events (storms, floods, heat waves etc.). The most recent data available – for 2018, and from 1999 to 2018 – were taken into account.

How can the world deal with cost of climate change?

Global warming makes extreme weather events such as droughts and storms more frequent and stronger, the study says. In the past 20 years, altogether, about 495 000 people died as a direct result of more than 12,000 extreme weather events globally and losses between 1999 and 2018 amounted to around $3.54 trillion (in purchasing power parities).

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

In the long-term index, seven of the 10 most severely affected countries are poorer countries. How the devastating damage in these countries can be managed financially is one of the topics at this year's UN Climate Conference in Madrid, which began on Monday and lasts two weeks.

The below map shows the countries most affected last year.

“In countries like Haiti, the Philippines and Pakistan, we see such recurrent extreme weather conditions at such short intervals that these countries have little opportunity to recover from weather disasters,” said Vera Künzel, one of the authors.

Poor countries need help not only to adapt to climate change, but also to deal with unavoidable damage and losses, Künzel added.

“The climate summit needs to address the so far lacking of additional climate finance to help poorest people and countries in dealing with losses and damages,” Laura Schäfer of Germanwatch added.

“They are hit hardest by climate change impacts because they lack the financial and technical capacity to deal with the losses and damages.

“The climate conference therefore needs to result in a decision to regularly determine the support needs of vulnerable countries for future damages.”

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DROUGHT

From swamp to sponge: Berlin harnesses rain to adapt to climate shift

In two years' time, a massive hole in the heart of Berlin will become the German capital's biggest reservoir, capturing an increasingly precious resource -- water.

From swamp to sponge: Berlin harnesses rain to adapt to climate shift

Once a swamp centuries ago, Berlin has gone from a city trying to keep its abundant groundwater from overflowing to one scrambling to keep its forests green.

“Before, the aim was to evacuate rainwater to be able to cross the city without having to put on rubber boots,” Stephan Natz, the spokesman for Berlin’s water management services, told AFP from the edge of the crater, 20 metres (66 feet) deep.

But in 2018, the city adopted a “paradigm change” and is now finding ways to store rainwater to both combat drought and prevent flash floods.

In essence, it is applying the sponge city concept, which emerged as a theory in the 1970s and which has found favour in growing urban centres across the United States, China and Europe, as climate change makes weather systems more mercurial and more intense.

“The distribution of rain is now more erratic, that is to say, droughts are followed by strong rains and an ever-growing warming, which is in turn increasing evaporation,” said Natz.

Berlin’s 150-year-old sewage drainage system was not built to cope with today’s heavy deluges.

“In case of heavy rain, the waters are mixing and flooding the Spree river, sparking the deaths of fish and pollution that is visible,” said Natz.

At the same time, Berlin has faced severe water shortages in recent years as drought conditions in the capital leave the ground too dry to absorb sudden and strong rainfall.

As a result, the capital’s groundwater has still not returned to its normal level after five years of drought, according to the Leibniz Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries.

READ ALSO: Drought prompts rethink for ancient trees at Potsdam’s Sanssouci palace

“There is now a realisation of the value of water in Berlin. It’s one of the driest places in Germany,” said Darla Nickel, the director of the agency that manages rainwater in the capital.

Race against time

In a symbol of the ongoing transformation, the giant water reserve under construction is smack in the middle of the capital — fewer than two kilometres (1.2 miles) away from the Brandenburg Gate.

The reservoir, 40 metres in diameter, will collect almost 17,000 cubic metres of water — or five times the capacity of an Olympic-size pool.

It will store the rainwater before sending it to a treatment plant.

Besides the mega reservoir, Berlin is now requiring new housing projects to have a rainwater collection strategy.

Quartier 52, built five years ago in the southwest of the city, offers a model.

Three large ponds have been dug around the housing estate, offering residents a scenic walk on sunny days while serving as catchment when it rains.

Rainwater is “collected on green roofs and then in these ponds,” said Nickel.

“The water evaporates and in turn creates a more agreeable atmosphere.”

The pavements are also gently sloping, allowing water to run down into the ground.

“You see that it can be really simple,” said Nickel.

The challenge would be to replicate such measures across the city.

“We have advanced much more slowly with existing buildings than with new constructions,” said Nickel.

In all, about 30 projects are ongoing under the sponge city plan, including at the central Berlin Gendarmenmarkt area, usually a tourist magnet.

The city is also asking residents to install water collectors or plant green roofs, dangling an exemption of fees for management or purification of rainwater.

Officials are aware it will take several generations for Berlin to become a real sponge.

“We’ll see if climate change gives us enough time,” said Natz.

READ ALSO: INTERVIEW – ‘Failed climate policies are fuelling far-right politics in Germany’

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