Climate Change

A comprehensive inventory of Swiss glacial lakes shows how the lake landscape in the high mountains has changed since the end of the Little Ice Age.

Based on observational data from Europe, climate researchers from ETH Zurich have shown for the first time that forests lead to a rise in precipitation. Their analyses also revealed that if the available agricultural land were reforested, the amount of precipitation in Europe could increase by more than 7 percent.

What holds true for meadows would seem to apply to arable land, too: mixed cultures are more fruitful than monocultures. This was the outcome of an ETH Zurich research project led by Christian Schöb.

The benefits of strict climate policies are often underestimated in public debate, while the costs are generally overestimated, says Lucas Bretschger. Climate protection does not have a negative impact on economic development.

Under the motto “Ecosystem Restoration”, the theme of Word Environment Day on 5 June 2021 is the restoration of the planet’s ecosystem. The only way to achieve this is through climate protection – one of the most hotly debated topics of our time. It is becoming increasingly obvious that this not only requires a drastic reduction in greenhouse gas emissions, but additional measures for reducing the level of carbon dioxide (CO₂) in the atmosphere. Unless this happens, it will be impossible to achieve the primary goal of the Paris agreement: to restrict global warming to no more than two degrees.