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Heat waves, heavy rainfalls, violent thunderstorms: the extreme is becoming more and more the rule. Issue 03/2023 of lookKIT is dedicated to research on climate change and its consequences. 

Researchers  of the Troposphere Research Department of KIT's Institute for Meteorology and Climate Research (IMK-TRO) relate recent extreme weather events, such as the hot summer of 2018 and the 2021 flood in the Ahr Valley, to climate change. More frequent droughts increase the risk of forest fires. Forest scientists  of KIT’s Institute for Technology Assessment and Systems Analysis (ITAS) study methods to make forests more resilient to the climate and to reforest areas sustainably after fires.

We also take you to Germany's highest measurement station: The Zugspitze Observatory of the IMK Atmospheric Environmental Research Department (IMK-IFU), KIT's Campus Alpine in Garmisch-Partenkirchen. The station’s instruments provide data on our atmosphere that help us better understand climate change.

It is clear that greenhouse gas emissions must be reduced considerably if we are to reach our climate goals. But that alone will not be sufficient. Already emitted CO₂ must be removed from the air. So-called negative emissions technologies are also studied by researchers at KIT.