Regional climate change projections show a changing climate in the metropolitan region of Hamburg for the end of the century: The temperature could increase and the precipitation in summer could decrease. To cope with the probably longer lasting and hotter summer conditions in Europe there are different possible adaptation measures in land management practice, e.g. forest conversion. That means the conversion of mostly coniferous forest monocultures to deciduous and mixed forests. Mixed forests are generally more adaptable in comparison to conifer forests. They ensure an increased groundwater recharge because of less canopy interception and reduced transpiration outside the growing season. An interesting question is how forest conversion would feedback to the regional climate under different climate conditions. To explore climate feedbacks, REMO (regional climate model at the Max Planck Institute for Meteorology, Hamburg) is applied. To get a more realistic representation of the land surface, a current dataset from a digital basis landscape model of the Federal Agency for Cartography and Geodesy is used instead of the standard representation of the land surface in REMO. In some areas of the metropolitan region of Hamburg the updated land surface increases the forest fraction. Additionally, all coniferous forest types are converted into broadleaf forest types to study the maximum impact on the simulated near surface climate. This set-up is used for a climate simulation with REMO, forced by ERA-INTERIM reanalysis data for the period of 1990-2008. Selected climate variables are analyzed and the associated processes are investigated: The different forest distributions affect particularly the evapotranspiration and thus the water- and energy cycle of the soil and the lower atmosphere. Especially, the effects in the very hot and dry year 2003 and in the wet year 2002 are analyzed. To study the impacts of the forest distributions under different climate conditions, a second climate simulation is set up with REMO, forced by ECHAM5-MPIOM for the historical period 1970-2000 and for the future time periods 2035-2065 and 2070-2100 under A1B emissions. This allows analyzing the impact of a changed forest cover under different climate conditions. It gives a first estimation of climate sensitivity.
Content:
Regional Activities:
RADOST Event at the Darßer Arche;
Save the Date: RADOST Final Conference;
Local Adaptation Strategies for Schleswig-Holstein;
Bay of Kiel Climate Alliance Supports Adaptation Strategy
of the City of Kiel;
“Nothing Stays the Same” – RADOST at the BWK Federal Congress;
Concordance Maps in the North German Climate Atlas;
International Activities:
Adaptation to Climate Change in Mountain & Coastal Areas;
Publications:
„Die Zeit“ Reports on RADOST;
4th RADOST Annual Report;
Adaptation Strategy for the Ports of Lübeck
Content:
Regional Activities:
Schoolchildren Explore Biodiversity in a Changing Climate;
Rügen in the Year 2030;
RADOST Findings in the “Climate Change in Northern Germany” Dossier;
International Activities:
RADOST at the ECCA Conference;
Adaptation in Mountain & Coastal Areas;
Publications:
Book Release: “Climate Change Adaptation in Practice”;
Contested Values and Practices in the US;
“Coastal & Marine” Magazine;
International Examples of Climate Change Adaptation
Content:
Regional Activities:
The Bay of Kiel Climate Alliance Receives BMU Support;
Northern German Regional Conference;
New Website Provides Information about the Need for Coastal Protection;
RADOST GIS Presents Water Quality Indicators;
Coastal Research, Use, and Protection;
National Activities:
KLIMZUG Final Conference;
International Activities:
HELCOM Workshop in Warnemünde;
RADOST at the Dupont Summit 2012;
Publications:
Results of the 2012 RADOST Tour;
Integrating Climate Change into Economic Analyses under the EU Water Framework Directive
Adaptation to climate change requires the implementation of new and revision of existing policies in order to change collective behaviour in a way that reduces vulnerability to the impacts of climate change. At the same time, the efficiency of environmental governance has been questioned due to perceived deficiencies in implementation in the past. As a consequence, it is observed that high levels of adaptive capacity are often not used for adaptive action, and therefore communities remain vulnerable. This thesis is looking at the socio-cognitive dimension of adaptation from the perspective of socio-cultural construction of values and practices that influence risk perceptions and behavioural intentions in coastal management and adaptation to climate variability and change. The construction of values and practices is analysed through discursive fields on the respective topics in local media from three states on the US mid-Atlantic coast.
Managing the impacts of climate change is an important issue for sustainable urban planning. A large range of economic activities influence urban climate and are influenced by climate change itself. The impacts of climate change on power plants, manufacturing processes and business locations as well as adaptation options should be analysed to understand the vulnerability to climate change. The seriousness of the potential impacts of
climate change on enterprises requires new concepts and innovative products for flexible and robust adaptation options. The analysis of the impacts of climate change on enterprises and potential adaptation measures is the basis of the research framework of a “climate-focused economic development” within the networking and research project dynaklim. A differentiated vulnerability assessment enables us to define and identify strategies of adaptation in the means of organisational, marked-focused and technical developments.
As a gateway between ground and sea transportation, and as
a business location for service and industry, ports are of great significance for the regional and national economy. At the same time, port structures are located in regions threatened by storms and rising sea levels. Due to highly interdependent value chains,weather related disruptions in port operation can cause serious economic damage. Thus, adaptation to possible climate impacts seems like an obvious task for port authorities. The article analyses the climate vulnerability of German Baltic port locations.