With climate change accelerating, there is a growing need to improve knowledge about current and future changes in local climate conditions and their impacts. It is important to assess climate risks, understand the most relevant risk drivers and affected sectors, and develop the most appropriate climate adaptation options. Climate risks are exacerbated not only by the increase in climatic hazards, but also by the extent to which societies prepare for them. In order to create sustainable and climate-resilient societies, appropriate decisions must also be made at the local level, concepts developed and measures for adapting to climate risks implemented. This also applies to rural communities, which have a wide range of opportunities and potential to take action. Spatial visualisation of current and future climate conditions is a key component in assessing the impacts and risks in a given area.
Against this background, GWS Discussion Paper 2025/3 focuses on identifying climate risks in rural areas of Germany and visualising the extent to which they are affected. The aim is to develop an exemplary decision-making aid for adaptation decisions. A cluster analysis in the R-Studio programme environment based on weather data from the German Weather Service serves to determine the extent to which rural areas are affected and vulnerable.

Hirsch, C. & Daßler, J. (2025): Identifizierung von Wetterclustern als Unterstützung für Klimaanpassungsprozesse ländlicher Räume. GWS Discussion Paper 2025/ 3, Osnabrück.