Global weirding

The English term global weirding (German roughly global confusion , from the English adjective or adverb weird , German foreign , bizarre , etc.) describes the incalculable increase in extreme weather conditions as a result of global warming .

Droughts, heat waves , storms, heavy rain and extreme frost are named as weather extremes .

Moderate extreme weather events (weird-weather) are defined in a study published in Nature in such a way that, under today's conditions, they have an expected frequency of 1 day in 1000 days. In a world with a global temperature increase of 2 degrees Celsius compared to the pre-industrial temperature, the probability of a day with extreme heat is twice as high as with an earth 1.5 ° C warmer and five times as high as under today's climate. It must be taken into account here that the global average temperature today (as of 2015) is already 0.85 ° C higher than in pre-industrial times.

According to a study by the Max Planck Institute for Biogeochemistry in Jena published in Nature in August 2013, global warming could intensify itself as a result of extreme meteorological events : In the future, terrestrial ecosystems will most likely absorb around eleven billion tons less carbon dioxide than they do through photosynthesis it could be without extreme weather events. This corresponds to around a third of the global carbon dioxide emissions per year that humans emit into the atmosphere mainly due to the burning of fossil fuels.

An international research team from eight nations to Markus Reichstein had in the project CARBO-Extreme analyzed satellite measurements from the years 1982 through 2011, how much light absorbing plants in an area with an extreme weather event in order photosynthesis to operate. This is a measure of the build-up of biomass in the respective ecosystems. On the other hand, the researchers used the data from a worldwide network of 500 measuring stations that record the carbon dioxide concentrations in the atmosphere and the air currents a few meters above the ground or above the treetops of a forest . The consequences of periods of drought in particular would have an impact on forests, swamps, grasslands and arable land. Because of the drastic consequences of forest fires, storms and the susceptibility of forests to pests due to drought, not only events of the century , but also the rarer weather extremes that have so far only occurred once in 1000 or even 10,000 years should be researched more closely with laboratory and field experiments because they are likely to become much more common towards the end of this century. The Federal Research Institute WSL , which is also involved in the CARBO Extreme project, and the Oeschger Center for Climate Research also advocate long-term studies: The strongest and long-lasting influences of extreme weather events would influence forest ecosystems in the future. The analysis of tree ring data has already made it possible to detect extreme influences on forests, for example in 1976, 1948, 1846, 1601 and 1540.

The increase in extreme weather conditions, along with the water vapor feedback and the ice-albedo feedback in climate impact research, would be an underestimated influencing factor for a self-reinforcing effect .

Christoph Bals from the environmental organization Germanwatch sees the industrialized countries as having an obligation to help developing countries adapt to climate change. Although in many cases so far hardly any greenhouse gas emissions are involved, they are the main victims of storms and floods. Extreme weather would affect more agriculturally structured states with soils prone to erosion. Damage today from extreme weather events amounting to 20 to 30 percent of the gross national product would threaten the existence of poor countries.

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• ZDFinfo , February 7, 2012, 7:30 p.m.: Global Weirding - extreme weather - why is the climate going crazy? . Documentation 2012, Professor Kerry Emanuel from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
• CARBO - Extreme - The terrestrial Carbon cycle under Climate Variability and Extremes, a Pan-European synthesis

See also

• global Weirding in the English Wiktionary (English)
• Free Air Carbon Dioxide Enrichment (outdoor climate research stations with increased carbon dioxide concentration for research purposes)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ northeastern.edu: 3Qs: What is 'global weirding'? (February 8, 2013)
2. ↑ Global Weirding: Extreme Climate Events Dominate The Summer , secure.huffingtonpost.com, December 8, 2010 (February 8, 2013)
3. ↑ General mobilization against the devastating consequences of climate change - global confusion ( memento of the original from October 14, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , arte.tv, August 29, 2008. Accessed August 19, 2013.  
4. ↑ ^{a b} Weather extremes are fueling climate change - CARBO Extreme Project ( Memento of the original from March 4, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , on the website of the Federal Ministry of Education and Research planeterde . Retrieved August 18, 2013.  
5. ↑ Quirin Schiermeier: Global warming brews weird weather. In: Nature. 2015, doi : 10.1038 / nature.2015.17407 .
6. ↑ ^{a b} Markus Reichstein u. a .: Weather extremes heat up climate change - "Climate extremes and the carbon cycle" , Max Planck Institute for Biogeochemistry Jena, August 14, 2013. Retrieved August 18, 2013.
7. ↑ The North must help the poor countries of the South to adapt to global climate change , environmental organization germanwatch, February 8, 2000. Accessed August 19, 2013.