Published

1 year ago

May 27, 2025

Alice Rush

von Lena Westphal (Nachhaltigkeitsmanagement)

Immer häufiger stellt sich heraus, dass in vielen Bereichen im Leben keine Gleichberechtigung zwischen Frau und Mann besteht. Dies hat oft auch den Grund, dass die Forschung zu bestimmten Themen, die für Frauen relevant sind, rückschrittig ist bzw. sich gerade erst aufbaut. So ist bekannt, dass die Klimakrise mehr negative Auswirkungen auf Frauen als auf Männer hat. Der vierte Gleichstellungsbericht des Bundes greift dieses Thema als Fokusthema mit der Bezeichnung „Gleichstellung in der sozial-ökologischen Transformation“ auf.

Disclaimer: In diesem Blogartikel wird von dem Familienmodell Frau, Mann, evtl. Kind(er) gesprochen und sich auf ein binäres Geschlecht bezogen. Ich bin mir bewusst, dass es natürlich und zum Glück (!) viele verschiedene Familienmodelle und Geschlechter gibt und möchte darauf hinweisen, dass beispielsweise alleinstehende, alleinerziehende, Frauen mit einer Behinderung, Trans*frauen oder Frauen in einer gleichgeschlechtlichen Beziehung noch härter von den Auswirkungen der Klimakrise betroffen sind als heterosexuelle Cis-Frauen.

So nimmt die Marginalisierung von LGBTIQ+Personen beispielsweise im Katastrophenfall zu. Sie erfahren beim Zugang zu Wasser, Lebensmitteln, Gesundheitsversorgung und Notunterkünften häufig Diskriminierung.

*** English version below ***

Frauen sind gesundheitlich stärker von den Auswirkungen des Klimawandels betroffen als Männer, da sie häufiger mit Hitzesymptomen wie Kopfschmerzen, Leistungsabfall und Schlafstörungen zu kämpfen haben. Auch in der Schwangerschaft kann es durch Hitzewellen, die von der Erderwärmung ausgelöst werden, zu Komplikationen und sogar Frühgeburten kommen. Auch die Ressourcenverknappung, etwa bei Lebensmitteln, hat mehr Auswirkungen auf die Frau, da ihre Überlebenswahrscheinlichkeit geringer ist als bei Männern. So waren 2023 im Hitzesommer 75 Prozent aller Verstorbenen weiblich.

Es gibt auch gesellschaftliche und politische Gründe, warum Frauen stärker von der Erderwärmung betroffen sind. Das klassische Rollenbild einer Frau, das immer noch Teil unserer Gesellschaft ist, sieht vor, dass sich Frauen zunächst erstmal um andere kümmern und erst zum Schluss um sich selbst. Frauen leisten weltweit mehr Care-Arbeit (= Sorgearbeit oder Pflegearbeit) als Männer.

*Abbildung 1: Symbolbild für Care-Arbeit (Quelle: Spiegel.de)*

Die Ungleichverteilung von Sorge- und Haushaltsaufgaben erschwert es Frauen, sich an die Auswirkungen des Klimawandels anzupassen. So haben sie meistens einen schlecht bezahlten Job in der Familie und sind somit abhängig von ihrem Partner. Ihnen bleibt insgesamt auch weniger Zeit, sich ausreichend über den Klimawandel und dessen Folgen zu informieren.

Insgesamt sei betont, dass es sich hierbei nicht nur um Probleme der Frauen im globalen Süden handelt, sondern es ein weltweites Problem ist. Nach dem Wirbelsturm Katrina in den USA 2005 haben beispielsweise mehr Frauen als Männer aufgrund von Care-Arbeit ihren Job aufgegeben, damit sie sich besser um ihre Familien kümmern konnten.

Frauen arbeiten auch häufiger in Pflegeberufen und sind hier einem direkten Infektionsrisiko ausgesetzt, was die Corona-Pandemie bereits bestens gezeigt hat. Die Klimakrise wird langfristig für weitere und häufiger auftretende Pandemien sorgen und hier werden dann auch wieder Frauen einem erhöhten Infektionsrisiko ausgesetzt sein, da sie vermehrt an vorderster Front in systemrelevanten Berufen arbeiten. Pandemien sorgen zusätzlich dafür, dass die Gleichstellung von Frau und Mann wieder gefährdet wird, da sich Frauen auch eher um das Homeschooling der Kinder kümmern als Männer.

Mehr als zwei Drittel der Studien (68 Prozent) zeigen, dass Frauen durch den Klimawandel größeren Gesundheitsrisiken ausgesetzt sind. Das Kreisdiagramm zeigt die Ergebnisse von 130 Studien über Klimawandel und Gesundheit: 89 Studien kamen zu dem Ergebnis, dass Frauen stärker betroffen sind als Männer, 30 Studien kamen zu dem Ergebnis, dass Männer stärker betroffen sind als Frauen, und 11 Studien kamen zu dem Ergebnis, dass es keinen Unterschied in der Betroffenheit von Männern und Frauen gibt. Weltweit sind Frauen häufiger als Männer von klimabedingter Ernährungsunsicherheit betroffen und leiden nach extremen Wetterereignissen auch häufiger unter psychischen Erkrankungen oder Gewalt in der Partnerschaft.

Weltweit sind Frauen insgesamt stärker von Armut betroffen und verfügen über weniger Geld oder Besitz als Männer. Im globalen Süden haben Frauen tendenziell weniger Landbesitz, weniger Zugang zu landwirtschaftlichen Produktionsmitteln wie Geräten, Saatgut oder Dünger, aber auch weniger Kapital.

Aufgrund der zunehmenden Trockenheit verlängert sich die Strecke bis zu den Wasserquellen. Die Wasserversorgung ist in vielen Kulturen Frauensache und meistens essen und trinken Männer zuerst, sodass am Ende kaum noch etwas für die Frauen übrigbleibt, obwohl diese das Wasser, aufgrund ihrer Menstruation, dringend benötigen. Durch die weiteren Wege, machen sich die Frauen häufig schon im Dunkeln auf den Weg oder kehren erst nachts zurück, wodurch sie einem erhöhten Risiko von sexualisierter Gewalt ausgesetzt sind.

Frauen werden früher zu Hausarbeit, wozu auch das Heranschaffen von Wasser gehört, herangezogen. Sie haben dadurch weniger Zeit und Gelegenheit, Bildung zu erlangen, wenn die Wege zu den Wasserstellen immer weiter werden.

Die Lebensmittel werden aufgrund klimatischer Veränderungen insgesamt knapper. Frauen in ärmeren Ländern sind eher dem Risiko zu hungern ausgesetzt als Männer, da die knappe Nahrung eher an sie verteilt wird.

Auch politisch gesehen haben Frauen einen Nachteil. In selbstversorgenden Familien führt die Politik dazu, dass sich diese Familien auf immer schlechteren Böden durchschlagen müssen. Sobald Männer die Familien als “Klimaflüchtlinge” verlassen, müssen die hinterbliebenen Frauen ihre Familien alleine versorgen, was sie noch angreifbarer macht.

Kommt es zu Extremwetterereignissen verletzen sich oder sterben Frauen sogar häufiger als Männer. Vor allem in Ländern, in denen Frauen einen niedrigeren sozioökonomischen Status haben, gehen diese selten ohne männliche Begleitung aus dem Haus, tragen Kleidung, die die Bewegungsfreiheit bei möglichen Überflutungen sehr einschränkt und werden später vor Klimakatastrophen gewarnt. Während die Männer bei der Arbeit sind, kümmern sich Frauen zu Hause um die Familie und den Haushalt. Oft können Frauen auch nicht schwimmen, was die Flucht bei Überschwemmungen nahezu unmöglich macht. So waren 2004 bei dem Tsunami in Südostasien 70 Prozent der Todesopfer Frauen.

Als 1991 der Zyklon “Gorki” an der Küste von Bangladesch wütete, kamen neunmal mehr Frauen ums Leben als Männer. Bei den verheerenden Buschbränden 2009 in Australien wollten sich doppelt so viele Frauen als Männer in Sicherheit bringen. Und als 2016 in Kenia wegen einer schweren Dürre zwei Millionen Menschen hungern mussten, waren es jeweils die Frauen, die als letzte Lebensmittel erhielten.

Hinzu kommt, dass klimawandelbedingte Katastrophen häufig die Versorgung mit Mitteln der Familienplanung und den Zugang zu gynäkologischen Untersuchungen oder Geburtshilfe einschränken.

Als wäre das nicht alles schon genug, steigt auch die sexualisierte Gewalt gegenüber Frauen. Zwangsheiraten könnten im globalen Süden wieder zunehmen, weil die Klimakrise den Zugang zu Bildung und Hilfsangeboten stark negativ beeinflusst. Es kommt zu Ernteausfällen, junge Frauen werden vermehrt zu Hause gebraucht, um die Familien zu unterstützen und werden häufiger jung verheiratet oder gegen Vieh verkauft. Es kommt auch dazu, dass (junge) Frauen zu Prostitution gezwungen werden. Dies hat dazu geführt, dass im südlichen Afrika, aufgrund von Dürreperioden, die HIV-Infektionen gestiegen sind. All diese “Maßnahmen” werden von den Familien durchgeführt, um das fehlende Einkommen zu kompensieren und die restliche Familie vor Hunger zu schützen.

Selbst wenn Frauen in Notunterkünften unterkommen, sind sie dort vermehrt Gewaltdelikten ausgesetzt und haben nahezu keine Privatsphäre.

Gerade weil Frauen stärker vom Klimawandel betroffen sind, nehmen sie den Klimawandel stärker als Bedrohung wahr als Männer. Sie setzen sich mehr für den Klimaschutz ein und fordern auch mehr politische Maßnahmen und sind auch bereit, mehr Geld dafür auszugeben. So war es ab dem 20. August 2018 Greta Thunberg, die in Schweden die „Schulstreiks für’s Klima“ startete und damit weltweit die “Fridays For Future”-Bewegung loslöste.

*Abbildung 3: Greta Thunberg vor dem schwedischen Reichstag in Stockholm (Quelle: Tagesschau.de)*

In Deutschland ist vor allem Luisa Neubauer für ihren Aktivismus bekannt und setzt sich auf Demos oder in Talkrunden vor allem mit männlichen Politikern auseinander. Generell sind überproportional viele Frauen an der Protestbewegung beteiligt.

*Abbildung 4: Luisa Neubauer und heutiger Bundeskanzler Friedrich Merz 2020 bei Markus Lanz*
*(Quelle: Utopia.de)*

Frauen haben insgesamt einen klimafreundlicheren Lebensstil. Sie essen weniger Fleisch und fahren weniger Auto. Oft ist das aber keine bewusste Entscheidung, da sie weniger befugt sind, einen umweltbelastenden Lebensstil zu führen. Eine französische Studie fand vor kurzem heraus, dass Männer 26 Prozent mehr CO₂-Emissionen verursachen als Frauen. Während auf Männer jährlich 5,3 Tonnen CO₂ zurückgehen, sind es bei Frauen 3,9 Tonnen. Die Bereiche Verkehr und Ernährung machen zusammen rund die Hälfte eines durchschnittlichen CO₂-Fußabdruckes aus.

Viele argumentieren, dass Männer mehr Kalorien oder Fleisch benötigen oder allein durch ihren Job mehr CO₂ verbrauchen als Frauen. Dies konnte die Studie allerdings widerlegen. Rechnet man alle sozioökonomischen, biologischen und gesellschaftlichen Unterschiede heraus, bleibt immer noch ein Geschlechterunterschied von 18 Prozent. Für diese restlichen 18 Prozent konnten die Forscher:innen keine Erklärung bieten.

In Ländern, in denen Frauen politisch mehr Mitspracherecht haben, ist jedoch auch die CO₂-Belastung geringer und das Interesse an strukturellen Veränderungen größer. Außerdem zeigen Frauen in ihrem Alltag mehr Engagement, etwa beim Einkauf, bei der Arbeit, bei politischen Wahlen oder beim Engagement in ihren privaten Bereichen.

Leider ist es bisher weltweit so, dass kaum Frauen an den politischen Entscheidungen mitwirken können, da sie bei beispielsweise Klimakonferenzen immer noch unterrepräsentiert sind. Ihre Bedürfnisse werden von den männlichen Entscheidungsträgern stets vernachlässigt. Dementsprechend hätte es einen großen Einfluss, wenn Frauen mehr zu sagen hätten und häufiger bei Entscheidungen beteiligt werden.

Seit Jahrzehnten warnen Expert:innen, dass klassische Geschlechterrollen die Menschen anfälliger für extreme Wetterereignisse machen. Politische Entscheidungsträger haben diese Warnungen lange ignoriert. Heute sind sie gezwungen umzudenken und sich zu fragen, wie sich Ungleichheiten abbauen lassen, die sich anderenfalls immer weiter zu verstärken drohen.

Die Klimakrise bedroht vor allem arme Bevölkerungsschichten, die keinen politischen Einfluss haben. Die meisten Frauen haben kein Mitspracherecht, wenn es um die Diskussion um die Verwendung und Nutzung von Ressourcen oder um grundlegende Entscheidungen geht.

Im Pariser Klimaabkommen von 2015 haben sich die Staatsoberhaupte darauf geeinigt, die globale Erderwärmung auf durchschnittlich 1,5 Grad Celsius über dem vorindustriellen Niveau zu begrenzen. Die Unterzeichner:innen einigten sich zudem auch auf einen “geschlechtergerechten” Ansatz bei der Anpassung an den Klimawandel. Dieser sollte sich an den besten verfügbaren wissenschaftlichen Erkenntnissen orientieren.

Um dieses Ziel zu erreichen, müssten die Systeme verändert werden, die noch immer an alten Ungleichheiten festhalten. Machtverhältnisse müssen neu gedacht werden. Dies würde bedeuten, dass Reichtum und Ressourcen weltweit gleichmäßiger verteilt werden müssen und es eine gerechtere Mitbestimmung und Beteiligung bei umweltpolitischen Themen gibt.

Bisher gibt es allerdings wenig Belege für diesen Wandel, weshalb die Ungleichheit immer noch Tagesordnung ist. Die Beteiligung von Frauen an Anpassungsprojekten ist sehr selten und auch in der nationalen Klimapolitik werden die Bedürfnisse von Frauen nicht genug beachtet.

Die Geschlechtergleichheit wird aber immerhin in vielerlei Hinsicht angestrebt. So ist es beispielsweise eines der 17 Ziele der Sustainable Development Goals (kurz: SDG’s). Durch die UN-Klimakonferenzen gründeten sich auch zwei transnationale Netzwerke: das zivilgesellschaftliche GenderCC – Women for Climate Justice und die Global Gender and Climate Alliance (GGCA).

Abschließend muss jedoch betont werden, dass das persönliche Konsumverhalten von Frauen und Männern einen nicht so großen Einfluss auf das Klima hat wie Unternehmen. Rund 100 Unternehmen machen weltweit bereits 70 Prozent der Treibhausemissionen aus. Somit haben Politik und Wirtschaft den größeren Einfluss.

Außerdem gibt es auch Momente, in denen Männer stärker vom Klimawandel bedroht sind, als Frauen. Dies ist allerdings die Seltenheit. Ein Beispiel ist aber, dass Männer, aufgrund ihres klassischen Rollenbildes, bei Waldbränden länger in ihrem Haus bleiben, um es zu “beschützen”, während sich die Frauen mit dem restlichen Teil der Familie in Sicherheit bringen. Dies ist u. a. auf die toxische Männlichkeit zurückzuführen, aufgrund derer dieses Verhalten von Männern erwartet wird. Dieser Faktor ist natürlich auch nicht gesund. Allerdings ist bewiesen, dass der Klimawandel zu einseitig naturwissenschaftlich und damit stark stereotyp männlich diskutiert wird. Frauen leiden somit insgesamt mehr unter den Folgen der Klimakrise und viele dieser Folgen wurden durch patriarchle Strukturen verursacht.

*** English version ***

Climate crisis: women more affected than men

by Lena Westphal (Sustainability Management)

It is becoming increasingly apparent that in many areas of life there is no equality between women and men. This is often due to the fact that research on certain topics that are relevant to women is lagging behind or is only just beginning to develop. For example, it is known that the climate crisis has more negative effects on women than on men. The federal government’s fourth Gender Equality Report takes up this topic as a focus theme with the title “Equality in the socio-ecological transformation”.

Disclaimer: This blog article refers to the family model of woman, man, possibly child(ren) and refers to a binary gender. I am aware that there are of course and fortunately (!) many different family models and genders and would like to point out that, for example, single women, single parents, women with a disability, trans* women or women in a same-sex relationship are even harder hit by the effects of the climate crisis than heterosexual cis women.

For example, the marginalization of LGBTIQ+ people increases in the event of a disaster. They often experience discrimination when it comes to access to water, food, healthcare and emergency shelters.

Women’s health is more affected by the effects of climate change than men, as they are more likely to suffer from heat-related symptoms such as headaches, reduced performance and sleep disorders. Heatwaves caused by global warming can also lead to complications and even premature births during pregnancy. The scarcity of resources, such as food, also has a greater impact on women, as they are less likely to survive than men. In 2023, for example, 75 percent of all deaths in the heatwave summer were female.

There are also social and political reasons why women are more affected by global warming. The classic role model of a woman, which is still part of our society, is that women first take care of others and only then take care of themselves. Worldwide, women perform more care work than men.

*Figure 1: Symbolic image for care work (source: Spiegel.de)*

The unequal distribution of care and household tasks makes it difficult for women to adapt to the effects of climate change. They usually have a low-paid job in the family and are therefore dependent on their partner. Overall, they also have less time to inform themselves sufficiently about climate change and its consequences.

Overall, it should be emphasized that this is not just a problem for women in the Global South, but a worldwide problem. After Hurricane Katrina in the USA in 2005, for example, more women than men gave up their jobs due to care work so that they could take better care of their families.

Women also work more frequently in care professions and are directly exposed to the risk of infection, as the coronavirus pandemic has already shown. The climate crisis will lead to further and more frequent pandemics in the long term, and women will again be exposed to an increased risk of infection, as they are increasingly working at the front line in systemically relevant professions. Pandemics also ensure that gender equality is once again at risk, as women are also more likely to homeschool their children than men.

More than two thirds of the studies (68 percent) show that women are exposed to greater health risks as a result of climate change. The pie chart shows the results of 130 studies on climate change and health: 89 studies came to the conclusion that women are more affected than men, 30 studies came to the conclusion that men are more affected than women, and 11 studies came to the conclusion that there is no difference in the extent to which men and women are affected. Globally, women are more likely than men to be affected by climate-related food insecurity and are also more likely to suffer from mental illness or intimate partner violence following extreme weather events.

Worldwide, women are generally more affected by poverty and have less money or property than men. In the global South, women tend to own less land, have less access to agricultural production resources such as equipment, seeds or fertilizer, but also less capital.

Due to the increasing drought, the distance to water sources is increasing. In many cultures, water supply is a matter for women and men usually eat and drink first, so that in the end there is hardly anything left for the women, even though they urgently need the water due to their menstruation. Due to the longer distances, women often set off in the dark or only return at night, which exposes them to an increased risk of sexualized violence.

Women are called upon to do housework earlier, including fetching water. As a result, they have less time and opportunity to gain an education as the distances to water points become ever longer.

Food is becoming scarcer overall due to climatic changes. Women in poorer countries are more at risk of starvation than men, as the scarce food is more likely to be distributed to them.

Women are also at a political disadvantage. In self-sufficient families, the policy means that these families have to eke out a living on increasingly poor soil. As soon as men leave their families as “climate refugees”, the women left behind have to support their families alone, which makes them even more vulnerable.

When extreme weather events occur, women are injured or even die more often than men. Particularly in countries where women have a lower socio-economic status, they rarely leave the house without a male companion, wear clothing that severely restricts their freedom of movement in the event of flooding and are later warned of climate disasters. While men are at work, women are at home taking care of the family and the household. Women often cannot swim either, which makes it almost impossible for them to escape in the event of flooding. In the 2004 tsunami in South East Asia, for example, 70 percent of the fatalities were women.

When Cyclone “Gorki” hit the coast of Bangladesh in 1991, nine times more women lost their lives than men. During the devastating bushfires in Australia in 2009, twice as many women tried to flee to safety as men. And when two million people went hungry due to a severe drought in Kenya in 2016, it was women who were the last to receive food.

In addition, climate change-related disasters often limit the supply of family planning resources and access to gynecological examinations or obstetric care.

As if that wasn’t enough, sexualized violence against women is also on the rise. Forced marriages could increase again in the Global South because the climate crisis is having a major negative impact on access to education and aid. There are crop failures, young women are increasingly needed at home to support their families and are more often married off young or sold for livestock. (Young) women are also forced into prostitution. This has led to an increase in HIV infections in southern Africa due to periods of drought. All these “measures” are carried out by families to compensate for the lack of income and to protect the rest of the family from hunger. Even if women are accommodated in emergency shelters, they are increasingly exposed to violence and have almost no privacy.

Precisely because women are more affected by climate change, they perceive climate change as more of a threat than men. They are more committed to climate protection and also demand more political measures and are prepared to spend more money on them. It was Greta Thunberg, for example, who launched the “School Strikes for the Climate” in Sweden on August 20, 2018, thereby triggering the “Fridays For Future” movement worldwide.

*Figure 3: Greta Thunberg in front of the Swedish Parliament in Stockholm (Source: Tagesschau.de)*

In Germany, Luisa Neubauer in particular is known for her activism and mainly confronts male politicians at demonstrations or in talks. In general, a disproportionately high number of women are involved in the protest movement.

*Figure 4: Luisa Neubauer and current Federal Chancellor Friedrich Merz 2020 on Markus Lanz*
*(source: Utopia.de)*

Overall, women have a more climate-friendly lifestyle. They eat less meat and drive less. However, this is often not a conscious decision, as they are less empowered to lead an environmentally harmful lifestyle. A French study recently found that men cause 26 percent more CO₂ emissions than women. While men are responsible for 5.3 tons of CO₂ per year, the figure for women is 3.9 tons. The transport and food sectors together account for around half of an average CO₂ footprint.

Many argue that men need more calories or meat or consume more CO₂ than women simply because of their job. However, the study was able to disprove this. If all socio-economic, biological and social differences are factored out, there is still a gender difference of 18 percent. The researchers were unable to provide an explanation for this remaining 18%.

However, in countries where women have a greater political say, carbon pollution is also lower and interest in structural change is greater. Women also show more commitment in their everyday lives, for example when shopping, at work, in political elections or in their private lives.

Unfortunately, women have hardly been able to participate in political decisions worldwide to date, as they are still underrepresented at climate conferences, for example. Their needs are always neglected by male decision-makers. Accordingly, it would have a major impact if women had more say and were more frequently involved in decision-making.

For decades, experts have warned that traditional gender roles make people more vulnerable to extreme weather events. Political decision-makers have long ignored these warnings. Today, they are forced to rethink and ask themselves how inequalities can be reduced, which otherwise threaten to become ever more pronounced.

The climate crisis primarily threatens poor sections of the population who have no political influence. Most women have no say when it comes to discussions about the use and utilization of resources or fundamental decisions.

In the Paris Climate Agreement of 2015, the heads of state agreed to limit global warming to an average of 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels. The signatories also agreed on a “gender-responsive” approach to adapting to climate change. This should be based on the best available scientific knowledge.

In order to achieve this goal, the systems that still hold on to old inequalities must be changed. Power relations need to be rethought. This would mean that wealth and resources must be distributed more evenly worldwide and that there must be fairer co-determination and participation in environmental policy issues.

So far, however, there is little evidence of this change, which is why inequality is still the order of the day. The participation of women in adaptation projects is very rare and women’s needs are not sufficiently considered in national climate policy.

However, gender equality is still being pursued in many respects. For example, it is one of the 17 goals of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs for short). The UN climate conferences also led to the establishment of two transnational networks: the civil society GenderCC – Women for Climate Justice and the Global Gender and Climate Alliance (GGCA).

Finally, however, it must be emphasized that the personal consumer behavior of women and men does not have as great an impact on the climate as companies. Around 100 companies already account for 70 percent of greenhouse gas emissions worldwide. Politics and business therefore have the greater influence.

There are also times when men are more threatened by climate change than women. However, this is a rarity. One example, however, is that men, due to their traditional role model, stay longer in their house during forest fires to “protect” it, while women take the rest of the family to safety. This is partly due to toxic masculinity, because of which this behavior is expected of men. This factor is of course not healthy either. However, it has been proven that climate change is discussed too one-sidedly in scientific terms and thus in a strongly stereotypically male way. Women are therefore suffering more overall from the consequences of the climate crisis and many of these consequences were caused by patriarchal structures.

Inhaltliche Quellen:

Quellen Abbildungen:

Klimakrise: Frauen stärker betroffen als Männer

Ocean Acidification

First Spotted, or Simply First Recorded? Velella and Our Ecological Blind Spots

Published

18 hours ago

August 26, 2026

Alice Rush

A remarkable strandline discovery deserves attention, but not exaggeration. The arrival of Velella velella on Sylt is probably Germany’s first documented record. It is not the first occurrence in the North Sea, nor is one stranding sufficient proof of a climate-driven invasion.

The discovery of Velella velella on Sylt on 23–24 August 2026 has been announced as the first German record of this oceanic hydrozoan (Listen to the News here). It is an exciting observation, but the word “first” needs careful interpretation. A first documented record is not necessarily the species’ first arrival. It may instead be the first time somebody recognized, photographed and reported it through the right channels. Fragile marine organisms such as Velella decompose rapidly, and their transparent floats are easily overlooked among material on the strandline.

A photographed Velella found on the west coast of Jutland in 2018 was considered the country’s first documented record. However, earlier reports exist (see here). Velella velella, known as the by-the-wind sailor or Segelqualle, is often described in the German media as a “Mediterranean jellyfish.” This is misleading. The species is a widely distributed oceanic hydrozoan found in tropical and warm-temperate waters, including the Mediterranean and the Northeast Atlantic. The familiar blue object is not a single conventional jellyfish but a floating colony of specialized polyps. Its diagonal sail allows wind to push the colony across the sea surface. Velella cannot swim effectively against this transport, so large strandings are principally the outcome of population size, surface currents and persistent onshore winds. The Sylt animals should therefore be understood as oceanic visitors transported into German waters, not automatically as an invasive species or an established North Sea population.

The North Sea has seen Velella before

In February 1988, thousands of colourless Velella floats washed ashore along the Belgian coast after strong westerly storms. The event was described as the first published North Sea record (See the article) Denmark also has a documented history. A photographed colony was found at Grønhøj on the west coast of Jutland on 26 July 2018. It was considered Denmark’s first documented record, although unverified reports exist from 1947, 1976 and 1997. Naturbasen

In Scotland, strandings have been recorded since at least the 1950s, with another mass event in the Clyde in 2002. Scottish Marine Atlas

The Sylt discovery is therefore regionally unusual, but it is part of a longer history of intermittent Velella transport into northern European waters.

Is this climate change?

Ocean warming may increase the probability that warm-water organisms survive and occur farther north, while winds and currents determine whether they reach Sylt in a particular year. Calling this one observation definitive proof of climate-driven range expansion would be premature. Equally, dismissing it as an irrelevant accident would ignore the wider pattern of warming seas and increasing biological movement into the North Sea.

This is exactly why systematic observations matter.

Historical absence from a database is not proof of ecological absence. It may reflect limited monitoring, failed identification or observations that were never preserved. The public can help close this gap. Photograph unusual strandline organisms, record the date and exact location, include a size reference, estimate their number and submit the observation to us (GoJelly/JellySpotter APP) or another biodiversity platform like the iNaturalist. Today’s carefully documented beach find may become tomorrow’s essential evidence of how marine distributions are changing.

Recommened for reading:

Pires RFT, Cordeiro N, Dubert J, Marraccini A, Relvas P, dos Santos A (2018) Untangling Velella velella (Cnidaria: Anthoathecatae) transport: a citizen science and oceanographic approach. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 591:241-251 https://doi.org/10.3354/meps12266
Betti, F., Bo, M., … Enrichetti, F. (2019). Massive strandings of Velella velella (Hydrozoa: Anthoathecata: Porpitidae) in the Ligurian Sea (North-western Mediterranean Sea). The European Zoological Journal, 86(1), 343–353. https://doi.org/10.1080/24750263.2019.1671506

Picture courtesy to https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:20160518_170717_Velella_velella_1.jpg

First Spotted, or Simply First Recorded? Velella and Our Ecological Blind Spots

Ocean Acidification

Lessons from Coastal Legends

Published

5 days ago

August 21, 2026

Alice Rush

Storytelling is one of our oldest human behaviors. Across every culture and continent, people have used stories to share values, pass down knowledge and make sense of the world around them. The tales that survive, retold across generations, kept alive through memory and ceremony, aren’t arbitrary. These coastal legends carry essential wisdom.

For countless coastal communities, that wisdom is related to the ocean.

Here are five coastal stories that are important parts of different oral traditions and teach us about our ocean.

Scotland: Selkie Stories

Early written records from the coast of Scotland describe seal-people who shed their aquatic skins to walk among humans on land.

These are the selkie. Their stories follow a familiar arc. One is discovered on shore, their sealskin is stolen and they are bound to a human life. They marry, raise children, but remain melancholy, always watching the water. When the skin is finally found, they return to the sea without hesitation.

It’s not difficult to see where the concept took root. Gray and harbor seals have strikingly humanesque features like expressive eyes, complex vocalizations, mothers who nurse their pups. Early coastal communities observed those qualities, and the selkie story began to spread. It produced a cultural taboo against the excessive hunting of seals.

Today, the selkie is one of Scotland’s most recognized figures. Conservation organizations have adopted the selkie as a bridge symbol of cultural identity and ocean protection. Gray seal populations in Scottish waters continue to face pressure from abandoned fishing gear and historical culling practices, behaviors the selkie taboo was designed to prevent.

Pasifika: Wayfinding

Pasifika is a collective term for the Indigenous Peoples of the Pacific Islands. For more than 3,000 years, they’ve managed to pass along extremely complex knowledge on how to navigate the vast expanse of the Pacific Ocean.

Their secret weapon? Storytelling.

They shared stories of the demigod Māui and his canoe, Waka-a-Māui, then navigated by their corresponding constellations in the sky. Tāwhirimātea was the god of wind and storms. When his eyes appeared in the sky (as the Pleiades cluster), it meant that it was a good time to start a long voyage. Stories like these gave navigators a framework for planning their journeys and navigating the distances.

Wayfinding is a science. The people of Pasifika developed their knowledge system through thousands of years of empirical observation, experimentation at sea and rigorous knowledge transmission. The names and stories were a medium of storing and sharing this knowledge, and an effective one at that.

Mexico: Chalchiuhtlicue

Chalchiuhtlicue is the Aztec goddess of rivers, lakes, seas and the ocean, as well as the protector of fishermen and navigators. In Aztec cosmology, she was one of the most actively worshiped deities.

In different stories, she is portrayed as both a creator and destroyer, as surges of water can result in abundant harvests or devastating floods. Today, Mexico’s Pacific and Gulf coasts are among the world’s most biologically rich but storm-exposed marine environments.

Chalchiuhtlicue’s tradition reflects an understanding of how water has the potential to be life-giving or destructive depending on amount and location. Mexico’s Indigenous cultures understood water as the foundational substance of existence, from the ocean to the hydrological routes that fed agricultural soil.

Vietnam: Grandfather Whales

The coastal communities of Vietnam have long shared stories of whales as divine protectors, often referring to them as Cá Ông or “Grandfather Whales.”

It is believed that when fishing boats are lost in a storm, whales physically rescue the crew by sending them toward shore. Several fishing villages in Vietnam still celebrate the Whale Prayer Festival twice a year. Because the whales are so revered, fishermen report whale encounters. Whales received sacred funerals whenever they are beached.

These coastal villages demonstrate a relationship with whale species marked by reciprocity. Sperm whales, humpbacks and gray whales, in fact, show behaviors that are consistent with the stories about rescue. They may approach distressed swimmers, encircle capsized vessels or even support injured kin. When a whale dies, gratitude and grief are expressed. The practice of providing a proper Confucian funeral to beached whales reflects the way that a whale carcass can still sustain hundreds of species after death.

The outside of a whale temple in Lăng Ngư Ông Nam Ô, Vietnam. Photo Credit: Lyssa Manning

Whale bones inside a whale temple in Lăng Ngư Ông Nam Ô, Vietnam — The outside of a whale temple in Lăng Ngư Ông Nam Ô, Vietnam. Photo Credit: Lyssa Manning

Caribbean: Mami Wata

Many cultures in the Caribbean have carried a belief in Mami Wata. She is an ocean deity, often depicted as a mermaid, who goes by several names: La Siréne in Haiti, River Mumma in Jamaica, and Yemonja in Brazil. Her reinterpretation across several cultures maps how her oral tradition was carried across the Atlantic by enslaved Africans and adapted in different Caribbean settings. Mami Wata is depicted as a beautiful woman, skilled at music, who can be both generous and dangerous. This dual nature is parallel to the Caribbean. It is one of the world’s most biodiverse marine environments, supporting coral reef ecosystems of extraordinary productivity, but it is also a region of violent tropical storms, dangerous currents and unpredictable weather.

Sightings of Mami Wata are thought by some scholars to be related to sightings of manatees. The large, slow marine mammals with humanlike eyes and nursing behavior may match the characterizations of the deity. When the belief in Mami Wata began to decline, so did manatee populations. This reflects a phenomenon researchers call the “sacred species” effect. When a creature holds deep spiritual significance in a culture, harming it carries social and moral consequences that can be more powerful than legal ones. This provides an element of protection that is sometimes more effective than law.

Long before satellites tracked ocean temperatures, people who lived alongside the water were paying close attention. They noticed which creatures signaled safe weather and which behaviors led to abundant catches. They encoded those observations into the stories they told—deities, creatures, warnings and rituals that traveled across centuries intact.

These aren’t relics. Many are living traditions, still practiced and still relevant. And when held up alongside what marine science has since confirmed, the parallels are striking.

The stories contain lessons

What connects a fisherman’s reverence for seals in Scotland to a Vietnamese community’s funeral rites for a beached whale? Around the world, people understand that the ocean is not only a resource for extraction but also offers a relationship to be maintained.

Ocean Conservancy operates on the same understanding. This drives our work today, from protecting marine ecosystems and rebuilding fish populations to fighting the pollution and policy decisions that put our ocean at risk. Right now, aging offshore oil and gas infrastructure is corroding on the seafloor, threatening many of the species that cultures around the world hold dear. The companies that build this infrastructure exploit loopholes to avoid cleaning it up. But we can change that. The proposed Offshore Leasing Standards and Accountability Act before Congress now would require oil and gas companies to take responsibility for their operations before, during and after they drill.

The ocean has always been worth protecting. Add your name and help us pass the Offshore Leasing Standards and Accountability Act now.

The post Lessons from Coastal Legends appeared first on Ocean Conservancy.

Lessons from Coastal Legends

Ocean Acidification

Meet Team Chile: Science, Sea Lions and the South American Winter

Published

7 days ago

August 20, 2026

Alice Rush

¡Hola y bienvenidos a Chile!

We are Paula and Tim, Team Chile of GAME 2026. For the past four months, we have been working together to investigate how different underwater soundscapes (i.e. natural and human-made sounds) affect the settlement of benthic organisms and the formation of hard-bottom communities in a field experiment. We are based in Concepción, Chile (latitude -36.8 and longitude -73.0), and therefore have a rather unique position within the GAME network as the only location on the Southern Hemisphere.

Concepción has a mild Mediterranean climate with a strong ocean influence. The summers are warm, while the winters are cool and rainy, but never cold enough for snow due to the city’s low elevation and coastal location. However, if we want to see snow during our stay here, we only need to reach the nearby Andes Mountains that are just an hour away. At this time of the year, the day-time temperatures typically range from 11–15°C, while at night the average is about 5–8°C. The Pacific Ocean actually remains cool throughout the entire year due to the upwelling of cool deep water, and the winter sea surface temperature is about 11–13°C. This means that swimming is a definite no-go right now. Of course, we tried it on various occasions, but only to back out soon every single time. One of Concepción’s greatest attractions are its diverse natural surroundings. There are beautiful Pacific beaches, rolling hills, native forests, green landscapes, rivers and waterfalls – and all of this is within easy reach. To the east, the snow of the Andes provides excellent opportunities for skiing and hiking. To the west, we can enjoy surfing and diving along the Pacific coast (once the water warms up), exploring nature trails, or simply admiring breathtaking scenery. Altogether, Concepción offers a wide range of outdoor activities for everyone.

Beautiful hidden beach near Concepción, only a 10 minutes walk away from one of our field stations.

In 2026, we are the only GAME team that works on the Southern Hemisphere and the only one that is located in the Americas. This distinction comes with both advantages and disadvantages. On the one hand, it means that we have to get up earlier than anyone else for the weekly GAME Zoom meetings, which take place every Wednesday at 1 pm European summer time. Furthermore, we are also the only team experiencing winter while everyone else, in Europe and in Asia, is enjoying summer. On the other hand, we were in the ideal time zone for watching this year’s World Cup matches.

The first team picture we took on our first day scouting for experimental sites, back when the weather was sunny and no hot chocolate was needed to lift our spirits.

Now, in the austral winter, the days in Concepcíon are just starting to get longer; the rain, however, more frequent, and grey skies have become a familiar sight. Actually, our record were two straight weeks without seeing the sun, but having constant rain instead. Fortunately, our morale remains high, and this is achieved in no small parts by increasing quantities of coffee and hot chocolate, which we drink whenever and wherever possible to boost our frozen spirits.

The first month of the practical phase of the project was dedicated almost entirely to the preparation of our experimental setup. We spent countless hours identifying suitable field sites, solving logistical challenges, assembling equipment, and navigating the realities of conducting marine ecological research in Chile. Fortunately, the staff at the CENDYR Náutico facility and the Marine Science Outpost of the UCSC near Caleta Lenga provided tremendous support. They helped us to establish our experimental setup by providing local expertise on tidal conditions or allowing us to use their kayaks for the final deployment of our constructions.

At our experimental site, Tim measures the acoustic isolation distance required between the sound-exposed settlement panels and those that should not be exposed to boat noise. Acoustic isolation means that no sound from the noise treatment level should reach the panels of the other experimental group. While Tim is doing this, the local sea lions continue to ignore him completely.

However, not every challenge came from the scientific side. For example, the local sea lions seemed determined to remind us that we were visitors in their territory. Sadly, these sea lions are less the cute, curious, and cuddly kind and more the gigantic, grunting, and grumpy kind. Every trip to the experimental site involves negotiating space with our new noisy neighbours, who rarely appeared impressed by our presence. On sunny days the negotiations are often fruitless, while they are frequently watched by curious tourists, who regularly come to the pier to watch the marine mammals.

Tim, confidently asking the sea lions to let him through. The sea lions, confidently pretending he doesn´t exist.

After this first month full of challenges, we were finally able to begin the experiment. It is designed to compare the effects of two very different underwater soundscapes on the settlement of marine organisms. Rather than investigating the effects of the two soundscapes simultaneously, we run two subsequent experiments using the same experimental setup. It consists of two frames: one for the sound application and one that is experiencing the natural, un-manipulated acoustic environment of our study site. Each frame supports a circular ring as its main structure, which carries the settlement panels on which marine invertebrates and algae establish during the experiment. To minimize the influence of the played back sounds on the second set-up, the two frames are placed as far apart from each other as possible. One is at the very beginning of the pier and the other one at its end.

Sixteen settlement panels are attached to each ring, which are equivalent to the surface of a ship hull or a rocky cliffside, and which provide a suitable surface for the colonization by marine sessile organisms. The establishing communities can be very diverse and identifying every species that settled on the panels can be a slow and sometimes painstaking process. However, this is part of our work and every time we come across a species we haven’t seen before, curiosity and excitement take over. We then feel just like little kids making a new and awesome discovery.

Paula is a marine biology student at the Universidad Católica de la Santísima Concepción. Before joining GAME, she had already gained experience in marine acoustics through projects supervised by Dr. Iván Hinojosa. Participating in GAME has pushed her well beyond her comfort zone. To attend the initial course in Germany, she left South America for the first time and travelled to Europe, which was an exciting but challenging experience. The journey was filled with many firsts – from her first intercontinental flight and her first European spring, to meeting Tim and the other members of the project in person for the very first time. The introductory course at GEOMAR provided an excellent opportunity to exchange ideas and learn new techniques. Beyond the scientific experience, it also allowed her to explore new cultures, visit beautiful places, and grow both personally and professionally. As English is not commonly used in everyday life in Chile and opportunities to practice it are limited, the course also gave her the chance to improve her language skills and gain confidence while working alongside students from around the world. Everything felt completely new, even going to the supermarket in Germany became an adventure. Making mistakes while choosing ingredients or accidentally buying the wrong sauce for lunch, became something fun to laugh about and remember. In March, travelling within the country became one of her favourite adventures. At first, she chose the safest option and bought bus tickets, but during her last days before leaving again, she challenged herself to take the train and travel anywhere without thinking too much. That sense of independence and discovery made her feel unstoppable. Exploring new destinations, discovering different architectural styles, and visiting Chilean friends living in Berlin made the experience even more special and unforgettable.

Germany had always been on Paula’s list of places to visit. Not only because of its history, but also because of the opportunity to study and collaborate internationally. Back in Chile, the project now provides another personal challenge for her. Most of her previous work experience took place in laboratories and offices, meaning that the winter fieldwork in coastal Chile, which we need to do now, is something that is unfamiliar to her. It is not completely new, but was definitely not part of her everyday routines so far. Every field day comes with a little bit of uncertainty: Will the weather cooperate? Will the sea be calm? Will everything go according to plan?

Working outdoors means adapting to whatever nature decides to bring. The job can be physically demanding and mentally exhausting. Sometimes Paula finds herself feeling seasick on the pier, trying to focus on the work and there are moments when the idea of sitting in a warm office, drinking a coffee, and staying far away from the waves sounds like the best scientific strategy ever created. However, she is determined to embrace this experience with curiosity, enthusiasm, and the best energy possible. After all, not every researcher gets the chance to work surrounded by the ocean, gain new insights into marine bioacoustics, and collect stories that will last far beyond the end of the project. Every working day is simply another part of the adventure, and, fortunately, conducting the project in her hometown means having family, friends, and local contacts nearby whenever a helping hand is needed.

In this picture, Paula is doing two things at once: putting the finishing touches on our experimental frame and teaching Tim her secret signature knot.

Tim is a Master’s student in the programme “Biodiversity, Ecology and Evolution” at the University of Tübingen. Outside marine ecology, his main passion is handball. Within days after arriving in Chile, he joined the UCSC university handball team and is now helping them pursue qualification for the Chilean national championships. This sounds highly prestigious until one learns that the number of competitive handball teams in Chile is considerably smaller than in Germany.

During the first months in Chile he also made an intensive effort to relearn Spanish – which he had forgotten after his schooltime. Progress has been steady: he can now confidently introduce himself and can understand approximately every second or third word of a conversation, provided that it is spoken slowly enough. Nevertheless, this has not discouraged him from speaking Spanish whenever possible. Unfortunately, his inability to properly roll the letter “r” still reveals his foreign origins almost instantly. Despite occasional linguistic mishaps, he is thoroughly enjoying to experience South America for the first time and is looking forward to discovering more of Chile in the months ahead.

After constructing our frames, it was time to test their durability, which is why Tim is taking them for a ride around town.

In the first months of the practical phase, opportunities for travel were limited due to the demanding preparation of the experiment. Between building frames, preparing equipment, scouting field sites, and carrying out the first sampling events, there was little time left to explore the country. However, now that the experiment is running smoothly and sampling events are more structured, there is finally enough time to enjoy life outside the field. Tim interpreted this newfound free time somewhat differently than expected and promptly booked a two-week trip to Rio de Janeiro—partly in search of warmer temperatures and partly because renewing his visa required leaving the country. After several weeks of cold, rainy Chilean winter weather, Rio offered exactly the kind of break he had hoped for: sunshine, beaches, mountains, and the unmistakable energy of one of South America’s most iconic cities. However, this experience made the rain in Chile seem only slightly less grey.

Before heading to Brazil, he also spent a weekend exploring the volcanic landscapes around Pucón. Hiking through forests, lava fields and snow-covered mountains quickly became one of the highlights of his time in Chile so far and confirming that Chile’s reputation for spectacular nature is well deserved.

Magnificent view at lunchtime during one of Tim´s hikes around the national parks near Pucón.

With several weeks of fieldwork still ahead, there are already more adventures on the horizon. A trip to Buenos Aires is planned for the end of August, and before returning to Germany, Tim hopes to visit both, Patagonia in the far south and the Atacama Desert in the north. Few regions in the world offer such an incredible variety of landscapes within a single country, and after spending most of the winter along Chile’s central coast, seeing more of what Chile has to offer has become one of his goals for the remaining weeks of the project.

However, back to the experiment: For the first two months, our underwater loudspeakers continuously played recordings of container ship noise, recreating a busy shipping environment to our settlement panels. However, by now we have officially entered the second phase of the experiment, in which we replaced the anthropogenic noise by recordings of natural reef sounds. Over the coming weeks, we are looking forward to seeing whether the establishing communities differ between these two contrasting acoustic worlds.

Applying the two different soundscapes in separate experiments, has given us the opportunity to work closely together throughout every stage of the experimental work. We have been able to support each other during the harder tasks, double-check our work and decisions, and by this learnt from every step of the process. This collaboration has been essential for improving our methods and preparing us to carry out the second experiment in the best possible way. Working as a team has not only helped us overcome difficulties more easily, but has also made the journey much more enjoyable, with the phrase “It is what it is” becoming our team mantra to remind us to stay positive and adaptable when some things became challenging.

As if to test whether our team mantra really holds up under pressure, nature decided to throw us one final challenge. Just two weeks ago, a severe winter storm with wind speeds exceeding 100 km/h swept across the coast of Talcahuano. The combination of strong winds, high waves, and an exceptionally high tide pushed the water level over the seawall and straight into the crate containing all of our playback equipment, dragging it into the ocean. What had taken weeks to assemble was suddenly soaked and destroyed. After a brief moment of disbelief (or maybe two or three moments), there was only one option: rebuild everything. It took us around five days, plenty of patience, and more than a few nerves before the experiment was running again. Fortunately, we managed to get everything back into operation with only minimal interruption—proving once again that sometimes “It is what it is” really is the only way forward.

Assessing the aftermath of the storm, while still being in denial about the reality of the problem.

Our experiment will be continued until approximately mid-September. As we now move into the final weeks of fieldwork, we are excited to see how the project develops and what the data will ultimately reveal about the influence of underwater sounds on the diversity and composition of hard-bottom communities. We are especially curious about the final results of the second experiment, as the outcomes of the first phase were quite unexpected and contrary to what we had initially anticipated. These surprising results have made us even more eager to understand how marine organisms respond to different underwater soundscapes and what new insights the second experiment will bring.

Together, we have challenged ourselves to achieve two important goals: successfully completing this project and winning the endless battle to pronouncing the “R” sound in both of our new native languages. So far, the first one seems much more achievable than the second.

The work has been demanding, the weather at times challenging, and the sea lions consistently uncooperative, but the experience has already been incredibly rewarding. We are both very grateful for the opportunity to participate in GAME 2026 and look forward to sharing more updates as the project progresses.