Cluster: Science

Swiss glaciers shrink at unprecedented rate

This content was published on Jan 13, 2004 A report by the glaciology commission at the Swiss Academy of Sciences says that all Switzerland’s glaciers shrank last year. The measure of retreat among the glaciers observed over the period 2002-2003 varied from one metre – at the Schwarz glacier in canton Bern – to 152 metres at the Trift glacier, also in canton…

Climate solutions

3,000 polluted sites need urgent clean-up

This content was published on Jan 5, 2004 The authorities say a national campaign to clean up these areas will cost millions of Swiss francs. A scandal over two waste dumps first drew public attention to the extent of the pollution problem in Switzerland. Between 1961 and 1976, 114,000 tons of solvents, pesticides and other pollutants were dumped at Bonfol in western Switzerland…

Climate solutions

Glaciers’ retreat causes alarm

This content was published on Nov 27, 2003 If governments don’t take urgent action, the organisation warns, billions of people could face severe water shortages. The WWF released its report on climate change and global glacier decline ahead of the ninth Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention for Climate Change, taking place in Milan next week. The organisation warns…

Climate solutions

Investment race in Swiss Alps causes alarm

This content was published on Nov 21, 2003 The groups said overdevelopment was also damaging the natural ecological balance of high-altitude regions. According to a new study, there are currently 113 projects under consideration to develop and expand Switzerland’s ski areas, requiring investments of SFr3.5 billion ($2.7 billion). Swiss environmental groups on Friday likened the expansion drive to that of the 1970s, when…

Climate solutions

More effort needed to save world water supplies

This content was published on Nov 13, 2003 The Swiss government, which hailed the event a success, warned that more action was needed to protect the finite resource. Ironically, 2003 was one of Switzerland’s driest and hottest on record, serving as a wake-up call that even as “Europe’s water tower”, the country is not immune to drought. “The weather had a very positive…

Climate solutions

Swiss lukewarm about implementing water policy

This content was published on Nov 13, 2003 But ecologists argue that although the country has good water laws on paper, in reality they are not always put into practice. The WWF’s Water and Wetland Index – Critical issues in water policy across Europe, which was published on Thursday, surveyed 23 European countries’ water management policies. Switzerland was rated top in terms of…

Climate solutions

Young parliamentarians act to save Europe’s water

This content was published on Oct 13, 2003 Members of the European Youth Parliament said not enough was being done to combat pollution and protect water resources. Young parliamentarians from ten countries took part in sessions in cantons Graubünden and Ticino in eastern Switzerland. All of the 14-18 year olds hailed from areas drained by the Rhine, Rhone, Po and Danube rivers. “We…

Climate solutions

Global warming threatens alpine plants

This content was published on Sep 9, 2003 The effect of global warming on alpine vegetation was one of the main topics discussed at a recent climate conference in Grindelwald. Scientist Georg Grabherr from the University of Vienna, one of the key speakers at the conference, confirmed that if global warming continued, Europe could see vegetation shifting north- and eastwards. The conditions would…

Climate solutions

Fears over dumped munitions in Lake Thun

This content was published on Aug 28, 2003 One possible cause is some 3,000 tons of munitions, which were dumped into the lake by the Swiss army decades ago. For the past three years, the fish have been showing changes in their reproductive organs. Around 70 per cent of the fish are now showing abnormalities, and the scale and variation of the changes…

Climate solutions

Discovering the ancient waterways of Valais

This content was published on Aug 18, 2003 The canals are a unique attraction even though they no longer serve their original purpose – and one of the best known is the Bisse du Levron in the Val de Bagnes. At first glance, the Bisse du Levron is anything but impressive. It is not very wide – about a metre – nor is…

Cluster: Science

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