Seminar Series

Oeschger Seminar Series

The oldest ice on Earth may be able to solve the puzzle of the planet’s climate history

9 April 2019

A European research consortium, in which the OCCR is involved in, wants to drill a 1.5 million year old ice core in Antarctica. An analysis of the climate data stored in the ice should contribute to a better understanding of the alternation between warm and cold periods.

The frozen pollen report

14 April 2019

OCCR researcher Sandra Brügger reconstructs past vegetation changes. As an expert on pollen found in glacier ice, she’s even been featured in The New York Times.

Hurricanes going astray make for heavy rainfall in Europe

26 March 2019

Tropical storms that move poleward influence the weather in Europe much more than previously supposed. A study from the Mobiliar Lab for Natural Risks oft he OCCR shows that the probability of heavy rainfall is twice as high when mid-latitude weather is disrupted by cyclones. These findings could ensure better extreme weather forecasts in the future.

The deep Southern Ocean is key to more intense ice ages

7 March 2019

Over the last million years, ice ages have intensified and lengthened. According to a study led by the OCCR researchers, this previously unexplained climate transition coincides with a diminution of the mixing between deep and surface waters in the Southern Ocean. The study confirms that the Antarctic region plays a crucial role during periods of climate change.

The polar regions communicate via "postcards" and "text messages"

29 November 2018

The OCCR was involved in a new study that has found two types of climatic connection between the North Atlantic and Antarctica. One is a rapid atmospheric channel and the other a much slower connection through the ocean. During the last glacial period, these links resulted in abrupt climatic changes – and could so again in future.

Carbon and Climate in the Paris World

5 November 2018

The next International Swiss Climate Summer School will take place from 8 – 13 September 2019 at Monte Verità, Ascona, Switzerland. It focuses on the theme “Carbon and climate in the Paris world: getting out of the fossil fuel carbon budget crunch”. With conventional mitigation and adaptation options not sufficiently exploited, humankind may need to deploy unconventional methods to meet its internationally recognized warming targets of 2°C or even 1.5°C.

The future climate becomes concrete

13 November 2018

The OCCR played a key role in developing the Climate Scenarios CH2018. Based on these model calculations, climate researchers in Bern are developing new tools to better identify flood risks. To this end, they are now launching the “Research Initiative Flood Risk”.

6,4 Million Euros for research into the birth of agriculture in Europe

23 October 2018

An interdisciplinary team from the universities of Bern (Oeschger Centre), Oxford and Thessaloniki was awarded a grant of 6.4 million euros from the European Research Council (ERC). The team included researchers from the fields of archeology and biology. They received one of the highly competitive “ERC Synergy Grants”. Aided by studies conducted in the lakes in Greece and in the south of the Balkans, the project should show how the climate, environment and agriculture have developed over the last 10,000 years and what influences these factors have had on each other.

A flood that changed Switzerland

12 September 2018

The OCCR has launched a new publication called “1868 - a flood that changed Switzerland”. This 60 pages strong brochure, written for an non-scientific audience, is the fruit of the collaboration of researchers from all fields of the OCCR. The project has produced an in-depth analysis and reconstruction of the flood that affected large parts of the Alpine region in Switzerland in autumn 1868. The brochure can be downloaded free of charge.

«Top of Europe» for greenhouse gas measurements

18 June 2018

The research station at Jungfraujoch where the OCCR group „Environmental Isotopes and Gases“ plays a prominent role is at the top of Europe – and not only because of its unique location. Within the framework of the European research infrastructure „Integrated Carbon Observation System" (ICOS), the laboratory in the heart of the Alps is now officially certified. ICOS provides data to better understand the global carbon cycle and how human activities affect it. The backbone of ICOS is a network of stations that have to meet the highest quality standards.

A Bernese Summer

20 August 2018

32 students from 11 nations participated at the first International Bachelor Summer School for Climate Change Research co-organized by the OCCR. The two-week event was entitled “Confronting Climate Change - from Science to Policy” and brought together students from different disciplines, including natural sciences, economics, and law. Participants were full of praise for high level lectures, the interdisciplinary focus, and the joys of summer in Bern.

Marine heatwaves are threatening ecosystems

15 August 2018

Marine heatwaves can irreversibly damage ecosystems and, therefore, also present a threat to fishing. As a team led by OCCR memberThomas Frölicher showed in a study just published in the journal Nature, the number of marine heatwaves has increased dramatically in past decades. This trend will further intensify as a result of climate change.

Hot city summer

2 August 2018

A dense network to measure temperature in Bern provides a detailed three dimensional picture of this summer’s heatwave. OCCR researcher show that the differences between single points of measurement within the city of Bern as well as in its surroundings may differ up to 4 °C. This is an important piece of information to plan measures against heat stress.
Read more (in German)

Lessons about a future warmer world using data from the past

25 June 2018

Selected intervals in the past that were as warm or warmer than today can help us understand what the Earth may be like under future global warming. A latest assessment of past warm periods, published in Nature Geoscience by an international team of 59 scientists from 17 nations, shows that in response to the warming ecosystems and climate zones will spatially shift and on millennial time scales ice sheets will substantially shrink.

Double challenge for the intrepid

4 June 2018

Chantal Camenisch wants to go all the way up the university career ladder – thanks in part to her research stints abroad. The environmental historian currently lives as a guest researcher in Rouen, France, and will soon head to York in the north of England. Of course the academic nomad is bringing her young family along.

A collective reminder for forgetful Switzerland

28 May 2018

Every seventh building in Switzerland is at risk of flooding, and four out of five Swiss communities have been affected by floods within the past 40 years. At the OCCR, the Mobiliar Lab for Natural Risks aims to better inform authorities and the public about the risks associated with flooding. For this reason, it’s creating an interactive online database of images illustrating floods: the “Collective Flood Memory”.

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