Environment

In the extremely dry summer of 2018, beech leaves discoloured in many places as early as July. Now, studies by the Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research WSL show that up to 10% of these trees died - a multiple of the natural mortality rate. The summer of 2022 is likely to have further affected beech trees in dry locations.

Researchers from ETH Zurich are studying how alpine vegetation is responding to a warming climate – and how some plant communities are continuing to stand firm against newcomers from lower elevations.

For over 25 years PSI has been conducting an uninterrupted series of measurements on the Jungfraujoch, studying the impact of aerosols on our climate at 3,580 metres above sea level. The measurements are taken in the Sphinx Observatory, the landmark building on the Jungfraujoch, inaugurated in 1937. This is Europe’s highest research station that can be reached throughout the year via the legendary mountain railway, the Jungfraubahn.

The smallest of all plastic particles have remained largely unexplored until now, because they could not be detected in the environment. Now researchers at Eawag show: Nanoplastics stick to slimy biofilms, which can for example be found on stones in streams or rivers. When freshwater snails feed on the slime, the nanoplastics are taken up.

During the MOSAiC research expedition, conducted in the Arctic pack ice between 2019 and 2020, EPFL and PSI scientists observed an atmospheric perturbation triggered by the intrusion of a highly polluted warm air-mass. A first study providing further insight into the phenomenon and its potential implications has just been published.

ETH Zurich is opening a new research and teaching centre with a focus on exploring the origin and prevalence of life on Earth and beyond. Under the leadership of Noble Laureate, Didier Queloz, more than 40 research groups from five departments will address the big questions posed by humankind.