Klimaportal

Les mesures approuvées visent exclusivement à réduire les émissions de suies de diesel. La législation environnementale suisse ne prévoit pas de valeur limite d'immission pour ces polluants cancérogènes car ils ont des effets néfastes même à des concentrations très faibles. Elle demande de réduire le plus possible cette pollution. Environ 3500 tonnes de suies de diesel ont été émises en 2005 en Suisse.

The study shows that, in comparison to other years, there were about 1000 excess death in Switzerland during the months June, July and August 2003. A large number of deaths occurred in Basel, Geneva and Lausanne, and elderly people were most affected. In order to mitigate the consequences of future heat periods the Swiss Federal Office of Public Health and the Swiss Agency for the Environment, Forests and Landscape inform via fact sheets and internet about the health effects of climatic changes and on how to behave during hot weather periods.

This Special Report describes both scientific and technical information regarding alternatives to ozone-depleting substances (ODSs) that may affect the global climate system. It addresses scientific linkages between stratospheric ozone depletion and climate change, and how the phase-out of ODSs is affecting climate change. HFCs have no ozone-depleting potential but are greenhouse gases, and are used as replacements for ODSs. The report assesses options to reduce emissions of these greenhouse gases, explores their technical feasibility and cost, and addresses environmental, safety and health considerations.

The full report will be published in mid-2005 by Cambridge University Press.

Carbon dioxide (CO2), which is generated by the use of fossil fuels, accounts for 80 per cent of greenhouse gas emissions in Switzerland. On 23 March 2005 the Federal Council has decided to reduce CO2 emissions by introducing a CO2 tax on combustibles and a «climate centime» on hydrocarbon fuels. Provided these measures are implemented in time, the targets of the Kyoto Protocol and of the CO2 law can be attained. The CO2 tax and the climate centime are planned to be launched at the beginning of 2006.

Communiqué de presse de ProClim- [630 kByte]

ProClim- Pressemitteilung [630 kByte]

In a game of «Keep Cool«, three to six players aged twelve and above represent groups of countries such as Europe, OPEC, or the developing countries. For one to two hours they can choose between «black» and «green» growth, but also adapt to inevitable climate impacts like droughts or floods. The strength of these increases when world temperature rises. Additionally, lobby groups like the oil industry or environmental groups have to be taken into account. The winner is the player who most efficiently reconciles climate protection with lobby interests. If some players are too ruthless, everybody loses.

With simple rules the game illustrates different facets of climate change which may seem a bit remote from everyday life, for example global warming, renewable energies or climate conferences. Players can learn more about climate change and the background of the game by consulting the scientific booklet. Thus, «Keep Cool» is suitable for use in communicating scientific ideas and in raising environmental awareness. The game is a part of teaching material about climate change which is being developed by the German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (BMU) in collaboration with the Zeitbild Verlag, in connection with the PISA 2006 student assessment.

«Keep Cool» contains the expertise of economists and climate and political scientists, because collaboration between different disciplines is fundamental for research about global environmental change. But for all that, the players should also have fun playing «Keep Cool» even if they are not climate experts.

Throughout the last three IPCC assessments the climate sensitivity has been estimated as being in the range 1.5 to 4.5°C for CO2 doubling (i.e., uncertain by a factor of three), making this parameter central to discussions of uncertainty in climate change. Some recent studies have suggested that new insights into the likely range of climate sensitivity may be possible through comparisons of models and observational data - both contemporary and historical or paleoclimatic. Observation/model intercomparisons were a special focus of the workshop in Paris.

The workshop was structured around four topics:

• Climate sensitivity from models
• Climate sensitivity from observations (including modern and paleoclimatic observations)
• Radiative transfer and forcing
• Probabilistic measures of climate sensitivity

Die Schweiz liegt normalerweise im Einflussbereich des nahen Atlantiks mit seiner ausgleichenden Klimawirkung. Im Jahr 2003 bestimmten jedoch fast durchwegs extreme, typisch kontinentale Bedingungen den Witterungsverlauf. So wurde die Schweiz und ein grosser Teil Europas von einem absolut atypischen Klimaregime beherrscht. Neben dem Hitzesommer waren auch abrupte Witterungumschwünge, insbesondere der Jahreszeitenwechsel, wie auch die anhaltende Trockenheit Eigenheiten des Jahres 2003.