The vulnerability analysis of the food industry in the Metropolitan Region Bremen-Oldenburg is based on an examination of the supply chains of the poultry, pork, dairy and fish industries.
Two circumstances have shaped the vulnerability assessment presented here: the current strong structural dynamics of the energy sector, albeit with no clear direction; and the fact that the energy providers have long been prepared to deal with a large variety of climatic and economic uncertainties.
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.
ONNO e.V., the East Frisian Network for Ecology – Region – Future, functions as a mediator between its members affected by climate change, the scientists in the project nordwest2050, and the public. The Association is especially active in the area of food communications and education, in order to strengthen the perspective of sustainable food culture in East Friesland among all relevant actors. In the context of this project, this is especially being developed and deepened with respect to the issue of climate change.
Over the last decades, Fucus vesiculosus, an ecologically important macroalga in the German Baltic Sea, has shown a massive retreat from the deeper zones of its former distribution presumably due to low light co-acting with other potential stressors such as high temperature, fouling, and grazing. In shallow water F. vesiculosus may be exposed to high water temperatures during summer seasons. Intensity and frequency of heat waves are expected to increase due to climate change which could potentially affect all fucoid life stages. Early life stage processes (fertilization, germination) are often considered particularly sensitive to stress. If the mortality caused by a first heat wave in a genetically diverse population selects for stress resistance, we would expect the survivors to be less sensitive to a second heat wave or possibly even to other stressors like feeding pressure.
In the present study, the mortality of early post-settlement stages of F. vesiculosus under thermal stress and the sensitivity of survived recruits against a proximate stressor (feeding pressure, second heat wave) were analysed by laboratory experiments. The mortality of early fucoid life stages at 25°C, compared to their mortality at 15°C was significantly higher. Regrettably, the ensuing assessment of feeding impact by Idotea baltica and Hydrobia ulvae on the surviving germlings could not be analysed since the two consumer species unexpectedly avoided feeding on the young stages of F. vesiculosus. During the second thermal stress experiment fucoid offspring which was genetically preselected by high temperature (first heat wave: 25°C) differed not significantly in sensitivity from fucoid offspring without prior stress.
The Freese Organic Farm is testing a number of adaptation options for agriculture, especially in the area of the cultivation of cereals and of high-quality vegetables. Open-field crop farming is becoming ever more difficult due to climate change. In order to better protect vegetable cultures from such extreme weather events as heat waves or heavy rain, the Freese Organic Farm is testing the following innovations: (1) A new greenhouse covering which, due to its particular permittivity, makes open-field-like light conditions possible in a protected structure. At the same time the farm is seeking resilient, climate adapted vegetable strains which are to be examined for their particular properties, both in open-field cultivation and under the protection of this innovative foil. (2) In the area of cereal raising, the organic farm is trying to cultivate an old strain of rye. (3) And by baking and marketing bread from this rye, the farm wants to raise consciousness about the issue of climate change and adaptation.
The farm Moorgut Kartzfehn in Bösel/Kartzfehn is the largest independent turkey-raising operation in Europe, and at the same time has Germany’s largest research site for turkeys. Since turkeys, like all birds, cannot sweat, the predicted long and hot summer days are a risk, especially for the final stage of turkey-farming. In order to avoid heat stress for the animals, various ventilation and feeding concepts have been developed in the context of nordwest2050.
INKA BB sees itself as an innovation network encompassing academia and business practice that brings about change proactively. As a role model and partner, the network wishes to disseminate findings and initiate learning processes. To achieve this, we combine the region’s existing expertise of research institutions, public administrations, business enterprises and associations. The network operates in Brandenburg with a federal state-wide focus. Most site- and company-related measures are undertaken in the regions of Lausitz-Spreewald and Uckermark-Barnim, as well as in the metropolis of Berlin.
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.