Over the past three days (September 27-29, 2023), the participants of the ExtremeWeatherCongress in Hamburg, Germany, have intensively dealt with the challenge of increasing weather extremes. The German Weather Service (DWD) reports “2023 represents, according to the experts, the year in which the development of extreme weather events has reached a level in which there is no longer any possibility of denying climate change and the human cause” (DWD, 2023). According to the report, in 2023 there were higher air and water temperatures and more forest fires and heat records than ever before. As a result, participating scientists and experts urged for an urgent reduction of greenhouse gas emissions as well as the necessary adaptation to consequences of the climate crisis that can no longer be averted.
In order to shed light on all these risks and catastrophes, topics such as the risk of forest fires in Germany, tipping elements in the climate system and climate journalism were discussed in a total of 20 sessions by a wide variety of actors, such as journalists, climate researchers, representatives of the “Last Generation” (dt. Letzte Generation” and medical experts. Among others, institutional members of the DKKV were involved in the organization and implementation of the 13th ExtremeWeatherCongress. Among them were the DWD, the Helmholtz-Zentrum Potsdam (GFZ) and the Federal Environmental Agency.
Here you can find the program and the records of the last three days.