<This post is by Joanna.>
Before we came to Berlin, I told Bryan all about how cold it was, and how it might never get more than a degree or two above freezing in January or February. And yet, here we are in mid-January, and it’s been so warm I don’t even need my heavy jacket. Apparently it’s been warm the past several years now.
I haven’t super researched the climate predictions for Berlin, but here’s what a nifty study of cities’ 2050 climates says (the website has a nice visualization to check all your favorite cities, as well as a spreadsheet with more details if you’re curious):
By 2050, the climate of Berlin will be most similar to that of current-day Canberra. The maximum temperature of the warmest month is likely to increase by 6.1°C, resulting in a mean annual temperature change of 1.8°C.
Crowther Lab, Cities of the Future
I’ve also heard people cite predictions that German summers will be significantly hotter (they are already getting hotter), and that there will be even more drought and flash-flooding across the country (also already starting to happen). I was a bit sad this summer that one of my favorite Berlin parks, Hasenheide, had rather dry and brown grass instead of the lush green of my memories.
And clearly winters are getting warmer too! Personally I’m pretty happy to be able to walk and bike outside comfortably. But… I also know that this is very much not what the weather is “supposed to be” in January.
I wonder what future generations will think of their climates. I guess they’ll be used to whatever they grew up with. Will they be curious about what it used to be like, or sick of us old fogies obsessing over how things used to be? Will those of us who remember things being different feel moved to tell stories about it? What stories will we tell? Will it be sort of like how I grew up with stories of the Great Depression? Or will we all just forget what it used to be like, and live with the way things are in the moment?
