German climate policy in extreme summer: heat haze and collective shame spiral

The summer of 2026 brought Germany to the brink of climate collapse. Deaths due to heat, withered fields, collapsing infrastructure and dying animals - the symptoms of a crisis that politicians and the media respond to with a mixture of talk of responsibility, ritualized talk shows and performative ignorance. While the text first lists these symptoms, it then addresses, with pointed irony, the reactions that still do not seem to understand the difference between weather and climate. The author's actual thesis: It is not ignorance, but repression that is driving the crisis. The more the crisis becomes apparent, the stronger the desire to look away becomes. Historically, the author locates this tipping point after the phase of increased climate policy willingness through Fridays for Future up to the heating law debate in 2023. The present is described as an era of climate shame in which society and politics practically implement their resigned decision against effective climate protection, but do not want to admit it morally. Without the end of this collective shame spiral, the author sees no chance for an honest discourse about climate change, adaptation, water, security and justice, but only the unstoppable crash in autoplay.