Especially in winter, the steam clouds rising from the cooling towers of Germany´s largest power plants are visible from miles away, under favorable conditions even from space. Fired by lignite, extracted from the surrounding surfaces mines, these power stations are among Europe´s highest producers of greenhouse gases, contributing to global climate change. Due to Germany´s plans to phase out coal-based energy production in 2038, resulting in the closing of mines and power stations, opinions of regional politicians and inhabitants are divided into black and white. There are basically only two main attitudes: on the one hand there is a fear of job loss and the decline of the whole region, on the other hand the protests against the ongoing mining operations which will still lead to relocating and destroying several villages on the edge of the mines.

Schwere, langanhaltende Regenfälle verursachten am 15.07.2021 in weiten Teilen Mitteleuropas Überschwemmungen. Zahlreiche Orte wurden zum teil stark zerstört, in Deutschland war unter anderem der südliche teil Nordrhein-Westfalens und Gebiete in der Eifel und an der Ahr betroffen. Es gab zahlreiche Vermisste, mindestens 166 Menschen starben, die Sachschäden gehen in die Milliarden Euro. Die Naturkatastrophe gilt als schwerste in Deutschland seit 60 Jahren. Heavy, prolonged rainfall caused flooding in large parts of Central Europe on July 15, 2021. In Germany, the southern part of North Rhine-Westphalia and areas in the Eifel and along the Ahr were affected. Numerous people were missing, at least 166 people died, and the damage to property runs into billions of euros. The natural disaster is considered the worst in Germany in 60 years.

Besonders im Winter sind die Dampfwolken, die im Rheinischen Braunkohlerevier aus den Kühltürmen der größten deutschen Kraftwerke aufsteigen, weithin sichtbar, unter günstigen Bedingungen sogar aus dem Weltraum. Befeuert mit Braunkohle, die in den umliegenden Tagebauen abgebaut wird, gehören diese Kraftwerke zu den größten Verursachern von Treibhausgasen in Europa und tragen damit zum globalen Klimawandel bei. Aufgrund der Pläne Deutschlands, im Jahr 2038 aus der kohlebasierten Energieerzeugung auszusteigen, was die Schließung von Bergwerken und Kraftwerken zur Folge hat, sind die Meinungen von regionalen Politikern und Einwohnern in schwarz und weiß gespalten. Im Grunde gibt es nur zwei Grundhaltungen: Auf der einen Seite steht die Angst vor dem Verlust von Arbeitsplätzen und dem Niedergang der gesamten Region, auf der anderen Seite die Proteste gegen den laufenden Bergbau, der noch zur Umsiedlung und Zerstörung mehrerer Dörfer am Rande der Bergwerke führen wird. Especially in winter, the steam clouds rising from the cooling towers of the large coal power plants in Germany´s southern-most part, the Rhenish lignite mining region between Cologne and Aachen, are visible from afar, and under favorable conditions even from outer space. Fired by lignite, extracted from the surrounding surface mines, these power stations are among Europe´s highest producers of greenhouse gases, contributing to global climate change. Due to Germany´s plans to phase out coal-based energy production in 2038, resulting in the closing of mines and power stations, the opinions of regional politicians and inhabitants are divided into black and white. There are only two main attitudes: on the one hand, there is a fear of job loss and the decline of the whole region, on the other hand, the protests against the ongoing mining operations which will still lead to relocating and destroying several villages on the edge of the mines.

From September 2015 through March 2016, a total of nearly 30.000 refugees from Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan, and other war-torn countries, who fled to Europe via the Mediterranean Sea and the Balkans, came to Cologne from the german border towns of Passau and Freilassing. They arrived in special trains by Deutsche Bahn at the train station of Cologne/Bonn airport, where they were given medical emergency treatment, food, and warm clothing by volunteers, before they got on busses to official refugee camps all over North Rhine-Westphalia, where they were registered to start the application for granting the right of asylum.