Preprints
https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2023-1460
https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2023-1460
11 Aug 2023
 | 11 Aug 2023

Compound events in Germany in 2018: drivers and case studies

Elena Xoplaki, Florian Ellsäßer, Jens Grieger, Katrin M. Nissen, Joaquim Pinto, Markus Augenstein, Ting-Chen Chen, Hendrik Feldmann, Petra Friederichs, Daniel Gliksman, Laura Goulier, Karsten Haustein, Jens Heinke, Lisa Jach, Florian Knutzen, Stefan Kollet, Jürg Luterbacher, Niklas Luther, Susanna Mohr, Christoph Mudersbach, Christoph Müller, Efi Rousi, Felix Simon, Laura Suarez-Gutierrez, Svenja Szemkus, Sara M. Vallejo-Bernal, Odysseas Vlachopoulos, and Frederik Wolf

Abstract. The European continent is regularly affected by a wide range of extreme events and natural hazards including heatwaves, extreme precipitation, droughts, cold spells, windstorms, and storm surges. Many of these events do not occur as single extreme events, but rather show a multivariate character, the so-called compound events. Within the scope of the interdisciplinary project climXtreme (https://climxtreme.net/), we investigate the interplay of extreme weather events, their characteristics and changes, intensity, frequency and uncertainties in the past, present and future and associated impacts on various socio-economic sectors in Germany and Central Europe. This contribution presents several case studies with special emphasis on the calendar year of 2018, which is of particular interest given the exceptional sequence of different compound events across large parts of Europe, with devastating impacts on human lives, ecosystems and infrastructure. We provide new evidence on drivers of spatially and temporally compound events (heat and drought; heavy precipitation in combination with extreme winds) with adverse impacts on ecosystems and society using large-scale atmospheric patterns. We shed light on the interannual influence of droughts on surface water and the impact of water scarcity and heatwaves on agriculture and forests. We assessed projected changes in compound events at different current and future global surface temperature levels, demonstrating the importance of better quantifying the likelihood of future extreme events for adaptation planning. Finally, we addressed research needs and future pathways, emphasising the need to define composite events primarily in terms of their impacts prior to their statistical characterisation.

Competing interests: At least one of the (co-)authors is a member of the editorial board of Natural Hazards and Earth System Sciences.

Publisher's note: Copernicus Publications remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims made in the text, published maps, institutional affiliations, or any other geographical representation in this preprint. The responsibility to include appropriate place names lies with the authors.
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Journal article(s) based on this preprint

07 Feb 2025
Compound events in Germany in 2018: drivers and case studies
Elena Xoplaki, Florian Ellsäßer, Jens Grieger, Katrin M. Nissen, Joaquim G. Pinto, Markus Augenstein, Ting-Chen Chen, Hendrik Feldmann, Petra Friederichs, Daniel Gliksman, Laura Goulier, Karsten Haustein, Jens Heinke, Lisa Jach, Florian Knutzen, Stefan Kollet, Jürg Luterbacher, Niklas Luther, Susanna Mohr, Christoph Mudersbach, Christoph Müller, Efi Rousi, Felix Simon, Laura Suarez-Gutierrez, Svenja Szemkus, Sara M. Vallejo-Bernal, Odysseas Vlachopoulos, and Frederik Wolf
Nat. Hazards Earth Syst. Sci., 25, 541–564, https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-25-541-2025,https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-25-541-2025, 2025
Short summary
Elena Xoplaki, Florian Ellsäßer, Jens Grieger, Katrin M. Nissen, Joaquim Pinto, Markus Augenstein, Ting-Chen Chen, Hendrik Feldmann, Petra Friederichs, Daniel Gliksman, Laura Goulier, Karsten Haustein, Jens Heinke, Lisa Jach, Florian Knutzen, Stefan Kollet, Jürg Luterbacher, Niklas Luther, Susanna Mohr, Christoph Mudersbach, Christoph Müller, Efi Rousi, Felix Simon, Laura Suarez-Gutierrez, Svenja Szemkus, Sara M. Vallejo-Bernal, Odysseas Vlachopoulos, and Frederik Wolf

Interactive discussion

Status: closed

Comment types: AC – author | RC – referee | CC – community | EC – editor | CEC – chief editor | : Report abuse
  • RC1: 'Comment on egusphere-2023-1460', Anonymous Referee #1, 11 Oct 2023
    • AC1: 'Reply on RC1', Elena Xoplaki, 31 Aug 2024
    • AC2: 'Reply on RC2', Elena Xoplaki, 31 Aug 2024
  • RC2: 'Comment on egusphere-2023-1460', Anonymous Referee #2, 02 Jul 2024
    • AC1: 'Reply on RC1', Elena Xoplaki, 31 Aug 2024
    • AC2: 'Reply on RC2', Elena Xoplaki, 31 Aug 2024

Interactive discussion

Status: closed

Comment types: AC – author | RC – referee | CC – community | EC – editor | CEC – chief editor | : Report abuse
  • RC1: 'Comment on egusphere-2023-1460', Anonymous Referee #1, 11 Oct 2023
    • AC1: 'Reply on RC1', Elena Xoplaki, 31 Aug 2024
    • AC2: 'Reply on RC2', Elena Xoplaki, 31 Aug 2024
  • RC2: 'Comment on egusphere-2023-1460', Anonymous Referee #2, 02 Jul 2024
    • AC1: 'Reply on RC1', Elena Xoplaki, 31 Aug 2024
    • AC2: 'Reply on RC2', Elena Xoplaki, 31 Aug 2024

Peer review completion

AR: Author's response | RR: Referee report | ED: Editor decision | EF: Editorial file upload
ED: Publish subject to minor revisions (review by editor) (22 Sep 2024) by Frank Kaspar
AR by Elena Xoplaki on behalf of the Authors (07 Nov 2024)  Author's response   Author's tracked changes   Manuscript 
ED: Publish subject to technical corrections (10 Nov 2024) by Frank Kaspar
AR by Elena Xoplaki on behalf of the Authors (14 Nov 2024)  Manuscript 

Journal article(s) based on this preprint

07 Feb 2025
Compound events in Germany in 2018: drivers and case studies
Elena Xoplaki, Florian Ellsäßer, Jens Grieger, Katrin M. Nissen, Joaquim G. Pinto, Markus Augenstein, Ting-Chen Chen, Hendrik Feldmann, Petra Friederichs, Daniel Gliksman, Laura Goulier, Karsten Haustein, Jens Heinke, Lisa Jach, Florian Knutzen, Stefan Kollet, Jürg Luterbacher, Niklas Luther, Susanna Mohr, Christoph Mudersbach, Christoph Müller, Efi Rousi, Felix Simon, Laura Suarez-Gutierrez, Svenja Szemkus, Sara M. Vallejo-Bernal, Odysseas Vlachopoulos, and Frederik Wolf
Nat. Hazards Earth Syst. Sci., 25, 541–564, https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-25-541-2025,https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-25-541-2025, 2025
Short summary
Elena Xoplaki, Florian Ellsäßer, Jens Grieger, Katrin M. Nissen, Joaquim Pinto, Markus Augenstein, Ting-Chen Chen, Hendrik Feldmann, Petra Friederichs, Daniel Gliksman, Laura Goulier, Karsten Haustein, Jens Heinke, Lisa Jach, Florian Knutzen, Stefan Kollet, Jürg Luterbacher, Niklas Luther, Susanna Mohr, Christoph Mudersbach, Christoph Müller, Efi Rousi, Felix Simon, Laura Suarez-Gutierrez, Svenja Szemkus, Sara M. Vallejo-Bernal, Odysseas Vlachopoulos, and Frederik Wolf

Data sets

Cropdata – spatial yield productivity data base for the ten most cultivated crops in Germany from 1989 to 2020 - version 1.0 F. Ellsäßer and E. Xoplaki http://dx.doi.org/10.22029/jlupub-7177

Cropdata – yield anomaly catalogue for the ten most cultivated crops in Germany from 1989 to 2020 - version 1.0 F. Ellsäßer and E. Xoplaki http://dx.doi.org/10.22029/jlupub-7176

Cropdata – supplementary data (for spatial yield productivity data base for the ten most cultivated crops in Germany from 1989 to 2020) - version 1.0 F. Ellsäßer and E. Xoplaki http://dx.doi.org/10.22029/jlupub-7203

Elena Xoplaki, Florian Ellsäßer, Jens Grieger, Katrin M. Nissen, Joaquim Pinto, Markus Augenstein, Ting-Chen Chen, Hendrik Feldmann, Petra Friederichs, Daniel Gliksman, Laura Goulier, Karsten Haustein, Jens Heinke, Lisa Jach, Florian Knutzen, Stefan Kollet, Jürg Luterbacher, Niklas Luther, Susanna Mohr, Christoph Mudersbach, Christoph Müller, Efi Rousi, Felix Simon, Laura Suarez-Gutierrez, Svenja Szemkus, Sara M. Vallejo-Bernal, Odysseas Vlachopoulos, and Frederik Wolf

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Short summary
Europe is regularly affected by compound events and natural hazards that occur simultaneously or with a temporal lag and are connected with disproportional impacts. Within the interdisciplinary project climXtreme (https://climxtreme.net/) we investigate the interplay of these events, their characteristics and changes, intensity, frequency and uncertainties in the past, present and future, as well as the associated impacts on different socio-economic sectors in Germany and Central Europe.
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