The Flood Before Us - An Island Fights Climate Change
The North Frisian island of Pellworm is threatened with extinction. "37°" accompanies residents of the island and the associated Hallig Süderoog who are fighting to preserve their home. Rising sea levels and more frequent heavy rain events could overload the island's drainage system. What is happening in North Friesland is an example of the challenges of climate change worldwide. 22-year-old Sophie wants to take over her parents' organic farm. The family has lived on the Edenswarf in Ostersiel for eight generations. More and more extreme weather with heavy rain, dry summers and storm surges are already costing the family a lot of money. Sophie, her three siblings and parents Jörg and Silke sued the German government in the Berlin Constitutional Court in 2019 for failing to meet climate targets.
The lawsuit was rejected. Sophie and other young environmental activists filed a constitutional complaint in April 2021. This time successfully. The judges in Karlsruhe ruled: The Climate Protection Act lacked sufficient specifications on how exactly greenhouse gas emissions are to be reduced from 2031. "37°" accompanies the student as she works on her father's farm. "You can feel climate change at any time of the year," says Ernst August, who, as an organic farmer and dike count on Pellworm, sees the changes in nature every day. "The sea level is rising, and at the same time the low water level is rising." He is therefore very concerned about the island's drainage system. When the sea level rises, the low-water periods shorten.
Then the water backs up, the reservoir overflows, and the roads and fields are flooded. A solution is urgently needed here. The crab fisherman, captain and fishery management master Holger and his wife Nele live with their two children on the Hallig Süderoog. Their tasks include coastal protection, building maintenance and nature conservation. Their house stands on a mound to protect it from the tides. When a high storm tide is imminent, they close the shutters, pile sandbags in front of the house and pack food. 10 to 40 times a year it's "land under" for them. Then their small marshland island is flooded by a strong tide. And that is by design. The floods deposit sediments on the small island, which grows.
The only question is, is it growing faster than the water is rising? There are many proposals to save the Halligen: Dikes, putting the houses on hydraulic "tables", sand flushing or simply letting them flood more so they can grow up naturally. But all these measures are not enough to counter the rise in sea level.
Broadcasting on 13th of July 2023 at 06.00am on Phoenix/ZDF
Music: POPVIRUS Library