environment and climate research

Worldwide loss of phosphorus due to soil erosion quantified for the first time

Earth Sciences - Environment - Sep 11
Earth Sciences - Environment
Phosphorus is essential for agriculture, yet this important plant nutrient is increasingly being lost from soils around the world. The primary cause is soil erosion, reports an international research team led by the University of Basel. The study Communications shows which continents and regions are most strongly affected.
Environment - Life Sciences - Sep 11

The cold memory of the earth

Environment - Life Sciences

On September 14, an expedition within the framework of the international project Ice Memory is setting out to carry out ice core drilling on the glacier of the mountain massif Grand Combin in the Swiss canton of Valais.

Environment - Sep 10

Amphipods: a miraculous increase in biodiversity

Environment

Until recently, researchers assumed that Switzerland had around 20 native species of amphipods. Now, a project by the Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology (Eawag) and the University of Zurich has revealed that there are actually more than 40. It is always worth taking a closer look, because we can only protect the things that we know exist.

Environment - Sep 7

A difficult year for forests, fields and meadows

Environment

The warm, dry summer of 2018 has left clear traces in various ecosystems. ETH Zurich researchers have found that if the climate continues to warm up, higher altitudes can also expect negative consequences in the future.

Electroengineering - Environment - Sep 10

Transistor-integrated cooling for a more powerful chip

Electroengineering - Environment

Researchers have created a single chip that combines a transistor and micro-fluidic cooling system. Managing the heat generated in electronics is a huge problem, especially with the constant push to reduce the size and pack as many transistors as possible in the same chip.

Environment - Agronomy - Sep 8

Nationwide decline of threatened plant species in Switzerland

Environment - Agronomy

The Swiss Flora is one of the richest and most diverse in Europe. However, more than 700 plant species are considered to be threatened. In a nationwide project over 400 volunteer botanists revisited known populations of all threatened and rare plant species in Switzerland and recorded their presence or absence. Researchers from the University of Bern and the National Data and Information Center on the Swiss Flora have now analysed the dataset, and the results are alarming.

Health - Environment - Aug 28

Experts collect information on risks of COVID-19 in wastewater

Health - Environment

The review paper "Rethinking wastewater risks and monitoring in light of the COVID-19 pandemic" was co-authored by 34 contributors from around the world. What was Eawag's contribution?

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environment and climate research

Switzerland has been at the forefront of climate research. The Nobel Peace Prize 2007 went to Al Gore and all the members of the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). Among those honoured are a number of Swiss scientists. Switzerland has decided to strengthen its leading position in climate research through several research initiatives and programs.

Research  institutions

Research programs

  • NCCR Climate: The Swiss National Science Foundation SNSF funds a long term climate project under the National Centre for Competence in Research (NCCR) scheme, the NCCR Climate. This NCCR is a network grouping the universities of Bern, Fribourg and Geneva, the Zurich Federal Institute of Technology, a number of Federal agencies, and the Swiss Re reinsuring company. It was established in 2001 with the aim of contributing substantially towards this concern and to better understand the climate system by carrying out interdisciplinary research on its variability and its potential for change. It includes such topics as historical climate change, the development of computer models to diagnose and forecast climate events, and the impact of climate change on ecosystems. 

  • The World Climate Research Program WCRP is an international program sponsored by several international organisations. It identifies knowledge gaps, prioritizes needs and leads world-class research into climate variability and climate change to meet end-user requirements and policy needs.

Platforms

  • Database allowing an overview of environmental research in the broad sense, covering themes as varied as the origins of the Earth, the understanding of natural processes or the solving of concrete environmental problems. 
  • The platform for cleantech, launched by the Swiss Government, provides all kind of information on cleantech for researchers and companies (only in German and French). Cleantech cover all products and services having a positive and sustainable effect on environment and climate.

Forums

  • Proclim is the Swiss forum for climate and global change issues. It seeks to facilitate both integrated research activities and the necessary linkages among scientists, policy-makers and the public at home and abroad . Its aims are the integration of Swiss research in international programs , s upport for interdisciplinary collaboration and dialog and information exchange and dialog with decision makers. 

  • The Swiss Committee on Polar Research (SCP) is a common forum of the Swiss Scientific Academies. Its main tasks are the national spreading of polar research results and informations through public events and publications.

Other useful links

  • Federal Office of Meteorology and Climatology
  • Swiss Biological Records Center ( Centre Suisse de Cartographie de la Faune) gathers, manages and diffuses information on the distribution and the ecology of fauna in Switzerland.

  • Swiss Village in Masdar City: Masdar City, located in Abu Dhabi, is the world’s first carbon-neutral zero waste city. Switzerland is a close partner of Masdar City: A Swiss Village is being realised in the first construction phase of Masdar – the opening is scheduled for 2011. The Swiss Village is to offer a balanced mix of uses with offices, research labs and light manufacturing facilities, restaurants and shops, a Swiss business hub, a Swiss private school, apartments as well as the Swiss Embassy and an embassy residence. 

Associations and agencies for renewable energies

Portals in the field of renewable energies

  • www.energieforschung.ch, a page of the Swiss Federal Office of Energy (SFOE), provides information about activities of the Swiss Government.
  • The platform for cleantech, launched by the Swiss Government, provides all kind of information on cleantech for researchers and companies (only in German and French). Cleantech cover all products and services having a positive and sustainable effect on environment and climate.