News 2017

International Bachelor Summer School for Climate Change Research

21 December 2017

The OCCR and the World Trade Institute (WTI) at the University of Bern jointly organize a Summer School entitled “Confronting Climate Change – from Science to Policy”. It aims at bringing together highly motivated, open-minded bachelor students (semesters 4 to 6) who are interested in Climate Change Research and are enrolled in any of the following fields of study: natural/climate sciences, economics, social sciences or law. The International Bachelor Summer School will take place from 6 – 17 August 2018, Bern, Switzerland. The language in this exciting 12-day interdisciplinary course is English. Participation is limited to 36 students.

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A tool to monitor climate change

14 December 2017

ERA-CLIM2 was a four-year research project funded by the EU which now came to an end with a symposium at the University of Bern, organized by the OCCR. The aim of the project, in which Stefan Brönnimann the head of the OCCR’s Climatology group played a central role, was to produce coupled reanalyses. Brönnimann and his research group did not only contribute scientific work to the project, they also produced a video that makes non-specialists understand what state-of-the-art climate reanalyses are all about. To do so, the film analyses a football kick.

See the film

Surface Water Floods – an Underestimated Risk

23 November 2017

Half of all flood damages are caused by surface water floods. However, recent hazard maps do not take into account this process. On 23 November from 16:15 to 19:00, the Mobiliar Lab for Natural Risks and the OCCR organize a public event (in German) where different activities regarding research, modelling and mapping of surface water floods as well as prevention strategies will be discussed.

Hubertus Fischer awarded Hans Oeschger Medal

27 October 2017

Hubertus Fischer of the OCCR group Past Climate and Biogeochemical Studies on Ice Cores has been awarded the Hans Oeschger Medal of the European Geosciences Union (EGU). This medal has been established in recognition of the scientific work of Hans Oeschger. It is reserved for scientists for their outstanding achievements in ice research and/or short term climatic changes. With its awards, the EGU recognises every year eminent scientists in the earth, planetary and space sciences, and identifies the awardees as role models for the next generation of early career scientists.

Talk on global climate policy by Robert Keohane

24 October 2017

Robert Keohane who is a Professor of International Affairs at Princeton University, will hold a talk at the OCCR on 15 November 2017 about designing a global climate regime without US leadership. He is the author of several highly renowned books and has been awarded the Balzan Prize 2016 for International Relations: History and Theory which will be presented in Bern later this month.

Eric Strobl is a new professor for environmental and climate economics

2 October 2017

The German economist Eric Strobl is a new full-time professor for environmental and climate economics at the University of Bern and a member of the OCCR. He researches in particular extreme weather events and the role they play for the economic mechanism in developing countries. With this expertise on conducting empirical evaluations of the effects of climate on the economy, the University of Bern is strengthening the exchange taking place between university research and policy, administration and economy. Eric Strobl fills the newly created endowed professorship for environmental and climate economics.

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Exhibition “Our Water” awarded Expo Prize

29 September 2017

The Oeschger Centre is a scientific partner of the exhibition “Our Water: Six Models for the Future“ at the Swiss Alpine Museum (alps). The show has now been awarded Prix Expo 2017 by the Swiss Academy of Sciences. This prize is awarded to exhibitions and related activities that convey the fascination for nature and sciences to a wide public in a thematically competent and experience-oriented way. The jury commended the «independent, courageous, and radical exhibition on a highly topical theme». The exhibition has been prolonged until 7 January 2018.

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Thomas Stocker awarded Marcel Benoist Science Prize

1 September 2017

Thomas Stocker, president of the Oeschger Centre and a professor of climate and environmental physics, has been awarded this year’s Marcel Benoist Science Prize which is regarded as the most important Swiss Science Prize.

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Climate containers on tour

15 July 2017

The OCCR presents a touring exhibition on climate research for the general public, called Container3. It is installed in sea containers and tours six city districts of Bern from mid-August to mid-September 2017. The show is realized in cooperation with the city of Bern which will present, in its own containers, topics related to energy and mobility.

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Prehistoric alpine farming in the Bernese Oberland

6 April 2017

The people in Switzerland were on the move in the High Alps and running alpine pastures 7,000 years ago and therefore much earlier than previously assumed. A study by the University of Bern that combines archaeological knowledge with findings from palaeoecology comes to this conclusion. Prehistoric finds from the Schnidejoch Pass played a crucial part in this.

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OCCR study rehabilitates climate models

7 February 2017

With new methods of reconstruction, climate researchers of the Oeschger Centre have been able to demonstrate that some 9,000 to 5,000 years ago, the Mediterranean climate was considerably warmer than previous studies had suggested. Among other things, previous concerns regarding the reliability of climate models could thus be dispelled.
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