Halligen Langeness, Germany

How has global climate change affected Halligen Langeness?

Station 9. Halligen Langeness, Germany Story

Crossing the polar ice cap, you arrive on an island in the North Sea. The sounds of screaming seagulls and breaking waves welcome you back to Germany. Located at 8º 36’ E/54º 38’ N, Holm Langeness is a village on one of the Halligen Islands. Fully surrounded by the turbulent North Sea, flood waters are a daily occurrence when the tide comes in.

When the North Sea tide goes out, it really goes out! The water line disappears into the horizon. When the North Sea tide comes in, it returns with a fierce surge of rapidly rising water. Early settlers built artificial hills as landscaping features. Today those hills are a refuge from rising sea waters. Entire farms moved upland onto the manmade hills called terps.

The North Sea draws tourists to Halligen. During low tide when the wet sandy bottom of the North Sea is exposed, tourists travel from the mainland to the island by a traditional open-air cart train. Residents of the island depend on ferries for food and other supplies.

In general, the temperatures in the Atlantic climate of the Halligen Islands is cooler than the rest of Germany, except in winter when warmer temperature prevail. The warmer temperatures are the result of ocean currents and prevailing winds traveling over water.

Events in Greenland are causing changes in the North Sea. Ice masses in Greenland are melting at an accelerating rate. During the 20th Century, glacial melt combined with seawater expansion raised sea levels by 8 to 10 inches. Freshwater from melting land ice also has the potential to alter ocean currents by changing the density of salt water. The habitable climates of northern Europe depends on the warm Atlantic Ocean current, known as the Gulf Stream. How a change in the Gulf Stream might affect European climates in the future is a question being addressed by climate modeling at the Alfred Wegener Institute in Bremerhaven.

In the meantime, residents of the Halligen Islands will continue to build taller terps, and engineer homes to withstand rising sea levels and stronger storm surges. Read more about climate change projections for Germany.

What to do

Look for clues to answer the question.
Examine the photo to identify factors that influence the climate of Langeness.
Use Google Earth to develop a sense of place.
Analyze the data and the climograph to observe patterns in rainfall and temperature.
Use the dig deeper resources to gather information to understand the processes behind climate change

Haligen Langeness, Germany 9º 36' E/ 54º 38' N

Elevation: 3 ft Population 138.

Google Earth View

State - Schleswig-Holstein

Island in the Wadden Sea

Modeling a Terp

Build your own terp. Or identify materials are the most environmentally friendly for inhabitants of Halligen to use for terps. Are ther other options for residents of Heligen? Write a proposal using scientific reasonsing to support your alternative argument.

Climate Change

Germany is responding to climate change through public policy and actions by government, industry, and private citizens. As a member of the European Union, Germany is working with other European countries to study and address anticipated changes in climate. Germany is also a member of the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).

Part of the work being done by scientists in countries including Germany, is modeling climate change impacts to inform government policy and planning for adaptation and mitigation. Your organizer has a summary of the predicted changes for Germany in the next 50 years.

The following summarizes expected changes by 2070-2100 compared to 1961-1990. The projections assume moderate increases in greenhouse gas emissions.

Projections are quoted from the Umwelt Bundesamt, the German Environmental Protection Agency.

The average temperatures rise regionally and seasonally differentiated by about +3.5°C (summer: +1.5°C to +5°C; winter: +2°C to +4.5°C).
Not only the average temperature in Germany will increase; high temperatures will occur especially in the summer.
It is expected there will be a decline in precipitation during the summer months. The forecasts range between minus 25%and plus 5%. It is highly likely that the proportion of heavy precipitation in the total precipitation will increase in the summer.
As far as the total precipitation in winter is concerned, most regions in Germany expect an increase (about minus (why minus if an increase?) 4% to plus 20%). The largest increase is expected to occur in Northern Germany. However, the regions far south will probably not be subject to any substantial change. It is expected there will even be a slight decrease. Even in winter, heavy rainfall will be recorded more frequently in the future.
Extreme wind speeds will also occur more often in the future.

In response to climate change projections, Germany is taking proactive measures to mitigate or adapt to impacts of climate change.

Check Your Understanding

Climate is the result of complex interactions among Earth’s atmosphere, land, and water. Turning on a light bulb in Bremerhaven was a metaphor for human activities that contribute carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases to Earth’s atmosphere. The concentration of greenhouse gases influences climate by changingfactors like temperature, precipitation, and sea level.

Starting with the ;light bulb, create a diagram that shows interactions and impacts you explored during your journey.
Focus on cause nd effect.
Include the following keywords: atmosphere, land, water, carbon dioxide, greenhouse gases, surface temperatures, sea level rise, glacial retreat (land ice), rainforest deforestation, arctic sea ice, antarctic ice mass, seawater expansion, climate.

Bring it Home

How is climate change affecting your community?
What actions could be taken by individuals and your community as a whole to address climate change threats?

Extend

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