Climate change hits Berlin: city trees are dying, drought remains a challenge!

Climate change hits Berlin: city trees are dying, drought remains a challenge!

The challenges of climate change are also clearly noticeable in the Berlin-Brandenburg region. The scientific team around Prof. Dr. Eva Paton from the TU Berlin is investigating adaptation measures to weather extremes as part of the “Climate and Water under Change” (CliWaC) project. The last few years in particular have shown how important it is to prepare for drought and heavy rain events. As of 2018, Germany has experienced two consecutive years of drought, resulting in dramatic changes to the landscape.

Drought and drought were criminally neglected in German hydrological research until 2018. It was only the massive lack of water and the associated forest fires that caused a rethink. Even the city trees in Berlin suffer from these conditions: due to a lack of irrigation systems, they are often abandoned, leading to a worrying decline in green oases.

Precipitation as a challenge

In Germany, precipitation is often viewed as a problem and not as a valuable resource. “Moss and rot” is what many people think of when they think of water in urban areas – but Prof. Paton’s team wants to change that. Less than five percent of the areas in Brandenburg are irrigated, and at the same time temperatures and the frequency of lightning droughts are increasing. These developments represent a serious challenge for agriculture, where well-considered strategies are required.

Farmers may be forced to switch to drought-resistant crops such as millet, soy and lentils while rainfall levels in the region do not change significantly. Instead, it is the longer breaks in the rain and the more intense rainfall that always cause surprises. The CliWaC project aims to collect and store rainwater in order to avoid runoff via the sewage system.

The preservation of city trees

Another focus is on preserving urban trees in Berlin. The high mortality rate since 2018 is alarming and endangers valuable biodiversity and air quality in the city. In order to ensure the survival of trees, the conditions for their care must urgently be improved. Suggestions for rainwater harvesting include connecting roofs to irrigation systems, trough-shaped tree discs and cisterns that could be targeted.

Meanwhile, planning urban green spaces is crucial. It must focus on the availability of water to ensure the survivability of plants during periods of drought. It remains to be seen whether those responsible in cities like Cologne will tackle these challenges, as awareness of sustainable water management is urgently needed here too.

The current weather conditions, which are characterized by lots of clouds, showers and thunderstorms, make it clear that people will have to adapt to climate change for better or for worse. But positive developments are also necessary. In the coming weeks, we can look forward to seeing how the discussion about climate adaptation continues to unfold, especially in urban environments.

Another current topic also shows what the situation looks like in other regions: In the Broadcast by NDR the need for adaptation strategies to weather extremes in cities is highlighted. Here too, it is clear that the challenges are immense not only in rural areas but also in urban centers. The age of adaptation has begun - and it will be exciting to see how cities like Berlin and Cologne will react to it.