Floods, droughts, climatic optimum and the little ice age - knowledge gained from 1000 years of climate history

There is no doubt that climate change is  the greatest challenge of our time. Aside from rising temperatures, it is primarily extreme weather events, such as heavy rain, heat waves, catastrophic flooding and hurricanes that cause fatalities and billions of euros of damage, even in Germany. History shows us how climate change and extreme weather conditions have influenced central European societies over the last 1000 years. Alongside the long-term development of the Medieval climatic optimum and the little ice age, it has always been isolated climatic events that altered the course of climate change. How can this knowledge be incorporated into current debate about climate vulnerability, climate fragility and our ability to adapt and learn in the long-term? The semester lecture from the Studium Generale "Floods, droughts, climatic optimum and the little ice age – knowledge gained from 1000 years of climate history" will be exploring these questions.

About the speakers:
Prof. Rüdiger Glaser is Director of the Institute of Physical Geography at the University of Freiburg. He is an internationally acclaimed expert in the field of historical climatology and global climate change. His "Klimageschichte Mitteleuropas – 1000 Jahre Wetter, Klima, Katastrophen“ has become a renowned reference work. In addition to research and teaching, he also makes regular media appearances as a highly-respected expert in his field.

Event language: German