Annual Report 2023

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Sustainable solutions for climate consequences

Key area

Sustainability

2023 was the warmest year since measurements began: With an average global temperature of 14.98 degrees, according to Copernicus, the European Union’s Earth Observation Programme, it was 0.17 degrees warmer than the previous record year in 2016. This is almost 1.5 degrees Celsius above the pre-industrial average. The world’s oceans also reached a record temperature of 21.1 degrees Celsius in April.

The University of Bern is analyzing the consequences of human-induced global warming on the health of the population, biodiversity and natural risks – and developing sustainable solutions.

STORIES

Heat fatalities

Global warming caused 60 percent of Swiss heat deaths in the summer of 2022

Climate change is intensifying heat, leading to a significant increase in heat-related health problems. Older women in particular are affected.

Mobiliar Lab

Largest hailstone found

For ten years, the Mobiliar Lab for Natural Risks at the University of Bern has been researching how hail, floods and storms occur. To mark the anniversary, we were looking for photos of large hailstones.

Geoengineering

Artificial darkening of the sun only partially effective

Could artificially dimming the sun prevent ice melt? So is there actually an emergency solution that could stop global warming? A study by the University of Bern shows that it’s not that simple.

Record temperatures

Unprecedented ocean heat

In 2023, the world’s oceans were in a state of emergency for long periods of time. Thomas Frölicher, Professor of Ocean Modelling, knows the background and effects.

International Conference

Protecting the Commons

How can the robbery of land and other collective resources be stopped? These questions were the focus of an international conference on “Commons” in Kenya, which was jointly organized by the Universities of Bern and Nairobi in June 2023.

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