News

Vegetation under stress: climate change increases the risk of forest fires in Austria

Large-scale forest fires have just been extinguished on the Croatian coast. The Greek island of Chios is still battling the flames. Here in Austria, fire brigades are currently tackling blazes in the Leoben and the Rax area. In our region, the risk of fire is actually highest in spring due to dry conditions. However, in recent years there have also been more forest fires in summer due to very high temperatures. Researchers at the University of Graz are investigating the links between this increase and climate change in the European Alpine region, as well as the consequences for affected areas.

New assessment report: climate change hits Austria particularly hard

Summer is in the starting blocks. Whether it will bring new temperature records remains to be seen. One thing is certain: Over the last few decades, the number of hot days in very hot years has tripled in Austria, as the recently published second Austrian Assessment Report on Climate Change shows. The publication provides well-founded information on observed and expected climate changes and their consequences and describes possible adaptation strategies. In the overall work of more than 200 scientists, researchers from the University of Graz are also responsible for several chapters of the report.

1. Österreichischer Hitzeaktionstag

Hitze ist das größte klimabedingte Gesundheitsrisiko – Zeit zu handeln!

Researchers at the University of Graz enable reliable monitoring of Paris climate goals

Global warming is continuously advancing. How quickly this will happen can now be predicted more accurately than ever before, thanks to a method developed by climate researcher Gottfried Kirchengast and his team at the University of Graz. For the first time, this method enables reliable monitoring of the Paris climate goals and shows that temperatures are rising faster than expected in the latest IPCC report. The new findings have just been published in the scientific journal Communications Earth & Environment.

Julia Danzer gewinnt STEIRERIN Award!

Am 22. Mai fand in der Seifenfabrik die feierliche Verleihung der STEIRERIN AWARDS 2025 statt, bei der Senior Scientist Julia Danzer nach einem öffentlichen Voting in der Kategorie Wissenschaft & Technik ausgezeichnet wurde. Wir gratulieren herzlich! "Forschung bedeutet für mich in erster Linie Freiheit: die Freiheit, immer wieder Neues lernen und entdecken zu dürfen. Mit der Klimaforschung habe ich zusätzlich das Glück, an aktuellen und gesellschaftsrelevanten Themen mitzuwirken. Gerade in der Forschung ist es mir auch ein großes Anliegen, als Frau anderen Frauen den Weg in die Wissenschaft als Möglichkeit aufzuzeigen und sie darin gezielt zu unterstützen und zu fördern." – Julia Danzer, Senior Scientist am Wegener Center und Teil der Forschungsgruppe Atmospheric Remote Sensing and Climate System (ARSCliSys)

Masterprämierung der Umweltsystemwissenschaften 2025

Herzlichen Glückwunsch an Annika Reiter und Matthias Salomon!

Die Terrassenhaussiedlung als Urban Living Lab

Erstes physisches Konsortialtreffen für das Projekt HeriSol in Graz

University of Graz launches project to share green know-how with Southeast Asia

Thailand and Vietnam are not only among the top tourist destinations. According to the Global Carbon Atlas, they are also among the regions with the highest carbon emissions worldwide. A new EU project led by the University of Graz aims to show how the two countries can make fruit and rice growing and tourism more environmentally friendly. At the beginning of March, representatives of the twelve participating institutions met at the University of Graz and at Schloss Seggau to initiate the first measures.

More news

Flood risk on the rise: Climate change causes more persistent heavy rainfall

Extreme weather events are becoming more frequent as a result of climate change. River floods such as those along the Ahr and Meuse valleys in 2021,…

Abgerutscht

Neue Publikation: Die Folgen des Klimawandes am Beispiel von Hangrutschungen in der Steiermark

New research: intensity of extreme heatwaves could increase much more than expected

It is known that heatwaves become more severe as the climate warms. But a new study led by the University of Graz now shows that the most extreme heat…

Feiertagsgrüße

Wir danken herzlich für die Zusammenarbeit in diesem Jahr, wünschen erholsame Feiertage und einen guten Start in ein glückliches, erfolgreiches und…

University of Graz receives the City of Graz's Ökoprofit seal of approval

This year, the University of Graz was once again awarded the Ökoprofit seal of approval by the City of Graz for its successful environmental and…

Diverse and unique

The Wegener Centre at the University of Graz is an internationally outstanding institution for climate research. It celebrates its 20th anniversary in…

Climate change update: ClimateTracer of the University of Graz provides reliable data

Yesterday, the Copernicus Climate Change Service of the European Union published its data on global warming up to end of November 2024. These confirm…

Reliable forecasting of extreme weather: new study supports improvement of climate models

Torrential rainfall such as that recently experienced in Spain is just one form of extreme weather event that is becoming more frequent as a result of…