Climate change cannot be reversed. The effects of climate change are already being felt in Salzgitter today and will become more pronounced in the future. The city therefore wants to prepare for the expected increase in extreme weather events. These include heat waves, dry spells, heavy rainfall events, extreme snowfall and storms.

The aim of the climate protection sub-concept "Adaptation to climate change in Salzgitter" is to specifically identify the current and expected effects of climate change for Salzgitter and to develop a long-term strategy for dealing with climate change.

The concept is intended to serve as a guideline for future activities in order to minimize the adverse effects and damage caused by climate change.

The "climate adaptation concept" comprises various project modules:

The basis is an inventory in which existing analyses are evaluated.

The "impact analysis" then examines which climatic changes can be expected in Salzgitter in the future and what consequences these climate changes will have (for example on human health, green spaces, bodies of water, traffic or buildings).

In addition, local stakeholders are involved in order to define the areas in Salzgitter most affected by climate change. Their cooperation is equally important in order to find and implement suitable and feasible climate change adaptation measures for Salzgitter.

It is important that this process is to be implemented in the long term and thus beyond the end of the project. The measures should be integrated into everyday life and the professional world.

Activities to adapt to climate change are necessary in many areas. The city has therefore involved various stakeholders in the preparation process.

Initially, experts from the administration, institutions and the voluntary sector were given the opportunity to share their assessment of the current and future effects of climate change and name possible measures. The city contacted the experts directly for this purpose.

In a second step, the citizens of Salzgitter had the opportunity to share their suggestions and comments for the concept development online. An online questionnaire was available for this purpose.

All feedback was evaluated and formed the basis of a strategy and measures workshop. Together with the political representatives, the participants and interested parties coordinated the strategy and discussed the measures for Salzgitter.

The agreed concept was presented and an outlook on the next steps was given.

The city council adopted this conceptPDF-File5,11 MB

read out

Climate change has already led to noticeable changes in climatic conditions in Salzgitter in the past, such as an increase in the average annual temperature of 1.5 degrees over the past 110 years (see figure).

Over the course of the year, a slight increase in precipitation totals is expected in the future, although some models also predict a slight decrease.

The number of days with precipitation will remain almost constant.

Some models forecast no change in the frequency of heavy rainfall events (> 30 mm/day).

Other models assume that heavy rainfall will occur somewhat more frequently and be more intense in the future (see table).

Seasonally, a change in precipitation patterns can be assumed in the form of drier summers and wetter winter and spring months (see figure below).

With regard to storm events, the models do not indicate an increasing risk - nevertheless, the frequency of storms is expected to be at least as high as before. For both extreme events, the forecasts are still subject to uncertainties: Thunderstorms are probably even underestimated due to the models.