Climate Change

The Swiss energy system is expected to be climate-neutral by 2050. The key to this is science: CO₂ can be converted by electrolysis into raw materials for chemicals or synthetic fuels and the cost of a fossil-free energy system can be calculated using modelling.

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.

A team of researchers from ETH Zurich and WSL travelled to Svalbard this summer to take a closer look at the phenomenon of Arctic greening. Lead principal investigator Sebastian Doetterl discusses research in the face of polar bears, airline strikes and war.

EPFL researchers have shown that people’s perception of office temperature can vary considerably. Personalized climate control could therefore help enhance workers’ comfort – and save energy at the same time.

Researchers from ETH Zurich have established that the destruction of ozone over the Arctic in the spring causes abnormal weather throughout the northern hemisphere, with many places being warmer and drier than average – or too wet.

Since the last ice age, chamois have colonised ever-higher altitudes. This is the result of a study by the Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research WSL, in which researchers combined genetic information on the animals with computer models. The resulting simulations could also reveal how the animals react to progressive climate warming in the future.