COP27, the United Nations climate conference, begins on Sunday in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt. We are now clearly seeing and feeling the effects of the climate crisis in Germany. The forest is particularly suffering in this country.
This is also confirmed by Henrik Hartmann, a scientist at the Max Planck Institute for Biogeochemistry in Jena and an expert on forests under climate stress. For three or four years, the trees have been in a condition that he had never seen before. “If you look at the treetops, there are sparse foliage and you can see large, dead branches,” he says. According to Hartmann, climate change is the main trigger for the problems. “As a result, the trees already have a basic weakening. And if extreme events then occur, such as the drought and heat in 2018, 2019 and 2022, then there is a strong stress event and the tree becomes so weak that insects or diseases come – and then they do the rest.” The best way to protect the forest is therefore effective climate protection.
Click here for the current issue of our research podcast “The Topic”: “Real Estate Market: The Boom is Over”
More news: Germany could miss climate targets, “last generation” not to blame for the death of a cyclist
Moderation, editing: Nadja Schlueter
Editor: Tami Holderried
Production: Benjamin Markthaler
To subscribe to our news podcast:
“To the point” is the news podcast of Süddeutsche Zeitung on the most important topics of the day. The podcast appears Monday through Friday at 5 p.m. You can find all the episodes on sz.de/nachrichtenpodcast. Don’t miss an episode and subscribe to our audio offering on your favorite podcast app or at iTunes, Spotify, deezer, AudioNow. You can find an overview of all our podcasts under www.sz.de/podcast and here you can find out how you can listen to our podcasts.
You have any questions or suggestions? Then write to us: [email protected].