Forest dieback, floods and droughts - climate change: what else is in store for us?

It was pointed out years ago that the number of tropical days in the Harz Mountains, i.e. days with temperatures above 30°C, is increasing. 2003 marked a turning point when the Brocken reached a record temperature of 28.2°C - a historic high since records began. Three consecutive days with temperatures above 25°C on the Brocken were unprecedented. The German Weather Service declared 2003 a "super year". In 2006, this record temperature was surpassed again, and July of the same year was the hottest ever recorded in the Harz Mountains.

Since then, the extremes have continued: new temperature records, more frequent flooding, increased bark beetle activity, falling groundwater levels in the Harz foreland and a critical situation at the Harz reservoirs. It is obvious that the warnings of climate researchers were not taken seriously enough. Nowadays, many researchers no longer speak of climate change, but of an acute climate crisis.

Water shortages and increasing flooding are just some of the already tangible consequences of this crisis that we are facing and that will become even more acute in the future.