Surveyors asked 1,000 people in Switzerland aged from 16 to 74 about their flying habits across both French- and German-speaking Switzerland. 27% said they have already avoided flights over the last two years for environmental reasons. Switzerland’s residents are big air travelers, flying three times as often as the average european, according to WWF. When […]
Heatwave expected in Switzerland next week
According to Meteo Swiss next week will be hot in Switzerland. In an article published yesterday it said the likelihood of high temperatures next week seems to be confirmed. Temperatures on the plateau could rise to between 32 et 35°C. Anyone hoping to find sub zero temperatures will need to get above 4,500 metres high, […]
Swiss government approves further GM crop trials
Last week, the Federal Office for the Environment (FOEN) gave a green light to trials of genetically modified (GM) barley in Switzerland. Permission was given to the University of Zurich to plant GM barley at a controlled site in the canton of Zurich. The barley has been modified to resist fungal diseases. The experiment aims […]
Climate change affecting Switzerland at twice the global rate
This week, meteorological bigwigs from around the world meet in Geneva, the home of the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO), to discuss meteorology and climate change. Among many things, the WMO is involved in measuring compliance with greenhouse gas emissions using measuring stations around the world. A report by WMO says that the four years from […]
Radioactivity detected above Mühleberg nuclear plant
Recent aerial air tests detected a higher than average level of radioactivity near the Mühleberg nuclear plant in the canton of Bern, as shown in red in the image below. The source of the radioactivity was identified as vapour containing the radioactive isotope N-16. N-16 has a half life of around 7 seconds, so it loses […]
Plastic bag use declines steeply in Switzerland
In 2016, nearly 418 million disposable plastic bags were distributed at retail checkouts across Switzerland. By 2018, the number was less than 57 million, a drop of 86%, according the Swiss Retail Federation. Most of the decline occurred after a group of retailers in Switzerland signed an agreement with the Swiss Retail Federation to charge […]
Some Swiss train platforms might not be smoke-free until 2020
Many looking forward to smoke-free train platforms in Switzerland might be disappointed. The public transport union (UTP) announced in November 2018 that Swiss train platforms would be free of smoking from 1 June 2019 after testing the concept earlier in 2018. However, according to a recent press release 1 June 2019 is the rollout start […]
Overnight trains could return to Switzerland
Last week a spokesperson for Swiss Rail told Swiss broadcaster SFR that the rail company was discussing reintroducing long distance overnight sleeper trains. 15 years ago, Switzerland had an extensive overnight train network with destinations including Rome, Barcelona, Brussels, Amsterdam, Berlin, Hamburg, Copenhagen, Vienna, Budapest, Prague, Graz Zagreb and Moscow. Progressively nearly all of these […]
Switzerland ranks near bottom for solar and wind energy
While Switzerland makes the most of the hydro generation potential of its snowy mountains, it scores less well on wind and solar generation. In a Europe-wide comparison by the Swiss Energy Foundation (SEF), Switzerland ranks near the bottom for per capita solar and wind power production. In addition, growth in solar is slow and growth […]
Smoking ban on Swiss train platforms faces delays
From 1 June 2019, Swiss train platforms are to be smoke free, in theory at least. In practice the ban could take longer at some train stations, according to the news website Watson. Implementing the ban involves creating designated smoking areas, something which will require more time in some locations, particularly at small regional train […]
