Specialists sound alarm bells over global warming, advocating for immediate measures
Unchecked climate change and escalating sea levels: Specialists at the 14th Extreme Climate Event Congress in Hamburg sounded the alarm on the impacts of global warming and urged immediate action. "This year, we've seen temperatures in Germany and globally that have never been higher, and 2024 is following the same trend," stated Tobias Fuchs, DWD board member, at the beginning of the three-day conference with around 700 attendees in Hamburg.
The number of climate change-related weather records also soared this year, according to experts. "The record for consecutive frost-free days on the Zugspitze hit an all-time high of 66 days in 2024, breaking the previous record by an astounding 25 days." Severe wildfires in the USA and catastrophic rainfall in the Mediterranean are just a few examples of the planet's heatwave-induced disasters.
The temperature rise is directly linked to the escalating greenhouse gas emissions. "I can no longer rule out the possibility that we'll surpass the 3-degree threshold by 2050," warned Frank Böttcher, chairman of the German Meteorological Society and organizer of the conference.
The extreme weather Congress served as a platform for specialists to emphasize the urgent need for action against global warming, given the rising temperature trends. The record-breaking number of frost-free days on the Zugspitze, lasting for 66 days in 2024, was one of the alarming climate change-related weather records discussed at the Extreme Weather Congress.
