11.7.2025

Climate change is becoming normal

n-tv, July 6, 2025: "Around the planet, extreme weather events are becoming more frequent due to climate change: mudslides in northern Italy, the largest flood disaster in Spain in living memory with hundreds of deaths, monstrous rain in Dubai, devastating forest fires in Los Angeles, Greece, and Turkey. The Mediterranean is now regularly hit by heat waves with temperatures over 45 degrees Celsius, and the existence of millions of people in the Caribbean, the southern United States, and the Pacific is threatened by increasingly destructive hurricanes, typhoons, and cyclones. The UN counted more than 150 such "unprecedented climate disasters" last year alone."

During the heat wave between June 23 and July 2, in which temperatures rose to well over 40 degrees Celsius in some places, approximately 2,300 people died in 12 major European cities, according to calculations by a research team from Great Britain, Denmark, the Netherlands, and Switzerland. Around 1,500 of them were the result of climate change, which increased temperatures in these cities by between 1 and 4 degrees Celsius. The elderly and those with underlying health conditions are particularly at risk. Deaths occurred at home, in hospitals, or nursing homes, quietly and without much media attention.

Climate Change and Economic Consequences

These health risks are nothing new. But the economic consequences are also immense: According to a study by the Federal Ministry for Climate Protection, the costs of environmental disasters in the first 20 years of this century amounted to €145 billion in Germany alone. Estimates for the future up to 2050 range between €280 and €900 billion.

Climate change is also increasingly affecting other very concrete areas of life that might not be obvious at first glance: One example is real estate, a key pillar of private wealth creation. Real estate is generally largely financed with loans. The financing banks expect insurance to permanently guarantee the value of the loan collate.

Due to climate change, increasing environmental disasters, and the resulting increase in the likelihood of damage, premiums are rising significantly. In the Ahr Valley, the annual premium for natural hazard insurance is three times the amount it was before the flood disaster in 2021. Many borrowers can no longer afford this. But more and more insurance companies are also withdrawing from this market entirely. This development means two things: A credit crunch is developing for new financing, making many real estate financing impossible. Existing loans can become non-performing due to exploding insurance premiums and financially overwhelmed owners, which, in large numbers, poses a threat to the financial system. "Climate change is no longer just an environmental problem. It is a looming economic threat," warned a US Senate report in December. There is a risk of "a collapse in real estate values, which could trigger a financial crisis of similar magnitude to the great crash of 2008."

Reactions to this (?)

Perception is largely shaped by images. While during flood disasters, people still see ugly images of flooded areas and collapsed or washed-away houses, during heatwaves they see sunny images depicting inviting holiday weather and a sunny paradise. That's simply beautiful. The insidiousness of heatwaves is invisible. Therefore, it doesn't affect human perception.

The first warnings about the consequences of climate change came over fifty years ago and have been repeated regularly and loudly ever since. They are simply becoming boring. For decades, they have continued to compete with news of other disasters, wars, plane crashes, assassinations, etc., all of which have one thing over climate change: they are acute, loud, and urgent. Therefore, perceptions are diverted elsewhere.

When the consequences of climate change make it to perception, one simple reaction is denial. Since there was heat 50 years ago, the issue can't be that serious and is trivialized. Another simple reaction is to retreat behind the vanishingly small individual possibilities to change the development.

The second reaction is understandable. But there are also many people who join forces in numerous environmental organizations and, together, make a difference. As a foundation, we have made - amongst others - environmental protection, including supporting these organizations, part of our mission.

Join us!