Winds of change: German weather maps to herald nation's diversity

A new German campaign by a media group raising awareness of the country's diversity on Tuesday brought snow front Ahmet sweeping in.

Besides Ahmet, Germans will soon see names like Bozena, Chana and Erhan on weather maps as part of a drive to raise awareness of a lack of representation in the media.

Each year, Germany gives names to its high- and low-pressure weather systems, with the names published in forecasts and widely circulated in the media.

Instead of conventionally German names like Dirk, Helge and Rolf -- all featured in 2020 -- this year's weather systems will be given names more typical of migrant backgrounds thanks to a campaign by New German Media Makers, which gathers journalists from underrepresented backgrounds.

The organisation sponsored the names of 14 weather fronts for 2021, including names from Arabic, Kurdish and Slavic communities, aiming to reflect Germany's diversity and argue for greater representation in the media.

"The weather highs and lows almost always only have names like Gisela and Helmut," New German Media Makers said. "Time for that to change."

The organisation bought the names -- 250 euros ($307) for low-pressure areas, and 350 euros for high-pressure systems, which tend to last longer -- using private donations, it said.

"Making the weather more diverse is just a symbolic step," said chairman Ferda Ataman. "It is important that social diversity finally becomes normal, everywhere."

Related Links
Earth Observation News - Suppiliers, Technology and Application

Tweet

Thanks for being there;
We need your help. The SpaceDaily news network continues to grow but revenues have never been harder to maintain.

With the rise of Ad Blockers, and Facebook - our traditional revenue sources via quality network advertising continues to decline. And unlike so many other news sites, we don't have a paywall - with those annoying usernames and passwords.

Our news coverage takes time and effort to publish 365 days a year.

If you find our news sites informative and useful then please consider becoming a regular supporter or for now make a one off contribution.

SpaceDaily Monthly Supporter
$5+ Billed Monthly

paypal only

SpaceDaily Contributor
$5 Billed Once

credit card or paypal

2020 weather disasters boosted by climate change: report
Paris (AFP) Dec 27, 2020
The ten costliest weather disasters worldwide this year saw insured damages worth $150 billion, topping the figure for 2019 and reflecting a long-term impact of global warming, according to a report Monday. The same disasters claimed at least 3,500 lives and displaced more than 13.5 million people. From Australia's out-of-control wildfires in January to a record number of Atlantic hurricanes through November, the true cost of the year's climate-enhanced calamities was in fact far higher because ... read more