Reading material for the holidays

The desire to foresee the weather and climate probably goes back to early mankind. Whereas experience in reading the signs of weather changes has long helped for short-term predictions of a few hours, it is only for a few decades that we have been able to forecast weather over several days – and simulate the future climate. Read more

In order to stop climate change, humanity needs to eliminate the emission of greenhouse gases. To do so, while maintaining acceptable living standards, will require new technologies for energy and industry. But how can we make sure that new technologies replace the old, rather than simply supplement them? Policy makers need to pay attention to two factors. Read more

A group of British éminences grises recently launched a 'global Apollo programme'. This has nothing to do with space, but rather with renewable energy, electricity storage and smart grids. And I think this initiative is great but it misses the mark at the same time. Read more

Many people claim that Switzerland cannot make much of a difference regarding climate change and the transformation of the global energy system, simply because it is so small. But this belief, and the associated passive stance towards energy policy, ignores the contribution that Switzerland can make as an innovation hub for institutional changes. Read more

“When one tugs at a single thing in nature, he finds it attached to the rest of the world.” John Muir’s observation encapsulates the inherent interconnectedness that lies at the heart of environmental issues. It is this that makes environmental problems not only complex, but also wicked—in seeking to address one issue we create new conflicts. Read more

Around 150 years ago, Charles Darwin championed the role of earthworms in maintaining healthy soils. Since then, much topsoil has been lost and soil biodiversity degraded. Urgent action is required in 2015, the International Year of Soils, to readdress this immense problem. Read more

Today, building envelopes tend to be static and unable to adapt to changing conditions. Now, for the first time, an adaptable façade has been used for the newly inaugurated House of Natural Resources (HoNR) that produces electricity and regulates light and heat generation. Read more

For the IDEAS CITY Festival in New York at the end of May, ETH Zurich is constructing a 90 m2 pavilion made from recycled beverage packaging. The project, led by ETH Global and Professor Dirk E. Hebel and Professor Philippe Block, aims to show the immense potential of waste for the construction sector. Read more

Recently I attended a transdisciplinary international conference on environmental justice at Franklin University Switzerland in Lugano. It featured a potpourri of themes that might have led to nothing but confusion. But rather than leaving me dazed, these crosscurrents of thinking helped to clarify several questions that have bothered me for some time. Read more

This month, paired events – a lecture by geographer Kathryn Yusoff and a colorful evening “slam” – took place, organized by the fledgling interdisciplinary group, Environmental Humanities Switzerland. Both explored the potential and limits of the “Anthropocene” thesis: the idea that we’ve entered a new geologic epoch wherein humans are actively altering Earth systems. Read more