Climate risksConcrete is better than abstract

25 August 2025, by Stephanie Janssen

Photo: pahis/Adobe Stock

Extreme heat in the city: „water islands“ can bring relief.

Climate extremes are becoming more frequent and intense and often produce extremely high losses – which vary from place to place. Lives could be at risk, as could streets, bridges, the food supply or electricity. Yet to date, countries around the world have neither sufficiently reduced their  CO₂ emissions nor adequately prepared for the impacts of climate change.

A team led by Prof. Jana Sillmann suggests assessing climate impacts on a place-by-place basis. The approach would make risks something more “hands-on” for decision-makers, helping them plan and implement targeted measures. General warnings are often abstract – and taking suitable precautions gets put on the back burner. But advances in climate research are making it possible to make many aspects more local and concrete.

For example, the effects of heatwaves in small towns: the number of projected heat-related deaths, how many hectares of farmland would suffer crop losses, and how much the water shortage would cost the town. Scenarios like this can make the effects of a climate extreme on decision-makers’ own home more tangible, increasing their readiness to invest and plan ahead. “We can mitigate many risks by promoting adaptation and prevention. The investment gap is huge,” says Sillmann, a climate researcher. After all, it’s not just the intensity of extreme weather that determines its impacts; local preconditions for avoiding catastrophes are also a vital aspect. 

The article was published in the CLICCS Quarterly magazine, the research news from the Cluster of Excellence "Climate, Climatic Change, and Society".