In Germany, not only rising and falling of sea levels are the effects of climate change. The changes in the water cycle are also some of the effects of the worsening global warming in the European country.
The changes in the hydrological balance like in precipitation, evaporation and groundwater formation will change in the near future. As the water cycle in Germany will change, the water levels in the sea and other water forms will greatly affect the ecosystems and other sectors that depend on water. One sector that will be greatly affected is agriculture, stated Max-Planck-Gesellschaft.
There will be a drought in the coming years in Germany, researchers from the Climate Service Center Germany (GERICS) and the author Stefan Hagemann from the Max Planck Institute for Meteorology in Hamburg said. The study, Der Einfluss des Klimawandels auf die terrestrischen Wassersysteme in Deutschland ("The influence of climate change on terrestrial water systems in Germany), which was published in February 2017, stated that the unforgettable drought in early August 2003 will likely happen again. The drought that affected many agriculture, water systems and nuclear power plants has reached a staggering 40 degree Celsius.
The study, which summarizes 20 other studies from 2009 to 2013, has concluded that there are trends that will continue to occur in the water cycle in Germany and its different bodies of water. This has been proven because the precipitation in Germany has increased by 11 percent since 1881. The winter has now more rains and the summer is dryer than ever in most part of the European country, stated Phys.org.
"Low water will arrive earlier, last longer and fall below the usual levels," explained the report. Moreover, the major rivers' water level will change and the water will be at its lowest in summer as the snow melts faster. It will also be lower than the previous levels, said the study. It will greatly affect the inland transportation. "The ecological balance of terrestrial water systems has already been dramatically altered by human activity," stated the report.
