News 2019

Birch tar reveals age of Bronze Age find

18 November 2019

The LARA radiocarbon dating laboratory at OCCR is a leading tool when it comes to analysing small material samples. This know-how was also in demand for dating the bronze hand of Prêles, a find that has made international headlines.

Read more

Diving and Sawing in the Bay of Bones

24 September 2019

Europe’s first farmers lived in pile dwellings in the Balkans. How did they adapt to new climate conditions and how did they influence their environment? A major EU project, initiated by Bernese researchers, is looking for the answers. We followed the research team for two days.
Read more

“This special climate report is highly topical and necessary”

23 September 2019

Physicist and OCCR member Thomas Frölicher played a central role in the IPCC's report on the ocean and cryosphere (ice, permafrost), which will be published on Wednesday, September 25. In an interview, he explains his role as lead author and talks about how he came to explore heat waves in the sea as an inhabitant of a landlocked country.
Read more

Europe's oldest lake traces 1.36 million years of climate

3 September 2019

An international team of scientists lead by the OCCR reveals that Lake Ohrid in the South Balkans is indeed Europe's oldest lake. A study published in Nature shows that the lake came into being 1.36 million years ago.
Read more

Volcanoes shaped the climate before humankind 

25 July 2019 

Five large volcanic eruptions occurred in the early 19th century. They caused cooling and – as a study led by the OCCR shows – to drying in the monsoon regions and glaciers growing in the Alps. The study shows that the pre-industrial climate was not constant: if one takes this cold period as the starting point for current global warming, the climate has already warmed up more than assumed in the current discussions. 
Read more

CO₂ from the Oceans could allow for climate-neutral mobility

11 June 2019

Huge floating solar islands on the ocean that produce enough energy to enable CO₂-neutral global freight traffic – what sounds like science fiction could indeed prove to be a major contribution to climate protection. An international group of researchers, including OCCR members, has calculated for the first time, the potential contribution to CO₂ mitigation of this concrete proposal.
Read more

The climate is warming faster than it has in the last 2,000 years 

25 July 2019

In contrast to pre-industrial climate fluctuations, current, anthropogenic climate change is occurring across the whole world at the same time. In addition, the speed of global warming is higher than it has been in at least 2,000 years. That’s according to two studies from the OCCR.
Read more

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.

Read more

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.

Read more

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.

Read more

Christian Pfister, a historian crossing across borders

18 February 2019

The well known German climate scientist Hans von Storch has conducted a series of interviews with impressive scientific personalities. He now teamed up with Heinz Wanner, the founding president of the OCCR to interview the climate historian and OCCR member Christian Pfister. This conversation is a tribute to the the ground-breaking work Christian Pfister has done in connecting climate history with quantitative climate science.

Read the interview
Read the preface by Thomas Stocker