Climate Change Will Heat Switzerland Swiftly
Pastor Dale Morgan
Climate Change Will Heat Switzerland Swiftly*
by Staff Writers
Geneva (AFP) March 15, 2007
Switzerland will suffer regular heatwaves and drought by 2050 as average
temperatures rise swiftly and disrupt living patterns in the heart of
Europe, a report predicted Wednesday. The report commissioned by the
interior and environment ministries forecast that average temperatures
in the Alpine country would rise by at least 2.0 degrees Celsius in
summer and 3.0 degrees C in winter by 2050.
Measures to cut carbon emissions will have little impact on climate
change by then, the report by the Swiss ministerial consultative body on
climate change said.
The Swiss global warming estimates are in the middle of the range of new
global average temperatures for the end of the century forecast by a
panel of UN climate change scientists, but are expected to occur earlier.
Rainfall in Switzerland will drop by about one-fifth during summer by
the middle of the century, sharply reducing water availability through
to the autumn, the report said.
It predicted that agriculture would be affected by the sharp shift in
the climate, prompting crop changes, and power supplies will falter. A
large proportion of Switzerland's electricity is supplied by
hydroelectric dams in the mountains.
Yet, the changing weather -- milder winters and hotter summers -- will
shift energy needs towards more electricity due to demand for air
conditioning and away from winter heating -- predominantly oil in
Switzerland.
That changing pattern of energy demand, combined with cuts in carbon
emissions, will also make wind power and renewable energy sources more
economically viable, the report said.
The scientists who produced the study voiced concern about the impact on
public health with the hotter summers, including from mosquito-borne
West Nile Fever, but said the advent of malaria or dengue fever was
unlikely.
By contrast, rainfall will increase by 10 percent in winter and is
likely to be concentrated in potentially damaging sudden spells of heavy
rain, while snow will only be found at higher altitudes, the Swiss panel
said.
The country's core winter tourism industry faces disruption while
transport routes in the Swiss Alps will be affected by the greater
threat of landslides or flash floods caused by extreme weather,
according to the report.
The UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) said in
January that fossil fuel pollution would raise world temperatures,
worsen floods, droughts and storms, and damage the climate system for a
thousand years to come.
The IPCC focused on a "best estimate" of a 1.8 to 4.0 degrees C increase
in Earth's surface temperatures by the end of the century, in 2100.
Concerns about climate change have been heightened in Switzerland by
noticeable changes summer and winter weather patterns in recent years,
especially during a record mild winter that has just ended.
Source: Agence France-Presse