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Karin Schwiter is one of the experts who, as part of the Digital Society Initiative (DSI) at the University of Zurich, focus on topics related to digital transformation and its impact on society. The DSI Spotlights are short videos that highlight different aspects of digitalization.
After the extreme circumstances encountered in 2022 and 2023, no relief is in sight for Swiss glaciers. Despite exceptionally large volumes of snow during the winter, a combination of temperatures in July and August that at times reached record levels and dust from the Sahara resulted in a loss of 2.5% of the glacier volume.
Digital platforms offer short-term jobs and the promise of independent and self-determined work. But what many digital day labourers need most is regular employment. Karin Schwiter and her team are researching work in the gig economy.
People in wheelchairs or with pushchairs are often led to insurmountable obstacles by navigation apps. The city and the University of Zurich want to make the city more accessible.
In many studies, Bernhard Schmid has shown that biodiversity is of great importance for the functioning of natural and agricultural ecosystems. The latest has just been published in Nature Ecology & Evolution. In interviews with the media, he comments on the biodiversity initiative that will soon be put to the vote.
Farming coffee can be both ecological and profitable at the same time, according to the research of Earth system scientist Maria J. Santos. The key is to combine the crops with trees.
Die Juragewässerkorrektion hat das Seeland zum Gemüsegarten gemacht. Sie hat allerdings auch zur massiven Absackung des Bodens geführt. Ob Aufschüttungen den Abbau des Moorbodens reduzieren können, untersucht ein Forschungsteam um Markus Egli an 10 Standorten.
Global warming has led to the disappearance of thousands of glaciers worldwide – with high impact on human communities in terms of cultural meaning, natural beauty, water availability, economic opportunity, and world heritage. The Global Glacier Casualty List exists to remember their names and tell their stories.
Als Glaziologin erforscht Kathrin Naegeli die Schweizer Gletscher. Mit der von ihr gegründeten Organisation «Girls* on Ice» versucht sie, Schülerinnen die Welt der Berge näherzubringen. Im Gespräch mit der Aargauer Zeitung gibt sie Einblick in ihren Alltag und verrät, weshalb es Aargauerinnen und Aargauer besonders oft ins Gebirge zieht.
Ecosystems are more stable and productive when they contain more species. This has been demonstrated impressively by researchers from the URPP Global Change and Biodiversity. The successful program is committed to ensuring that the value of biodiversity is better understood and appreciated in society.
The third World Biodiversity Forum (WBF), organised by UZH, is taking place in Davos this week. In this interview, UZH earth system scientists Maria J. Santos and Gabriela Schaepman-Strub explain how biodiversity and climate change influence each other and what needs to be done to overcome the climate and biodiversity crisis.
Der Boden im Grossen Moos ist in den letzten 100 Jahren um bis zu 2.4 Meter gesunken. Dies zeigt die Digitalisierung von über 44'000 Messpunkten einer zufällig gefundenen Karte aus dem Jahr 1920. Die Studierenden des Moduls GEO 401 konnten so ein historisches Oberflächenmodell erstellen und mit den aktuellen Daten von Swisstopo vergleichen.
Nach zwei Jahren mit wenig Schnee und sehr heissen Sommern bleibt der Permafrost in der Schweiz im Herbst 2023 warm und der Eisgehalt des Bodens nahm vielerorts weiter ab. Die Blockgletscher bewegten sich zudem schnell talwärts. Dies geht aus den neuesten Messungen des Schweizer Permafrost-Messnetzes hervor.
Nachhaltige Lösungen für gesellschaftlich relevante Probleme: Mit den langjährigen UFSP spielt die Universität ihre Kompetenzen in ausgewählten Forschungsbereichen aus. Letzte Woche feierte die UZH den Abschluss der zweiten Serie. Bei mehreren waren auch GIUZ-Mitglieder in Leitungsfunktionen oder als Mitarbeitende beteiligt.
Climate change is afflicting indigenous beech trees in Switzerland. Researchers at GIUZ now want to find out what Swiss beech forests might look like in the future. To do that, they are taking an experimental approach, using spectral data to investigate the biodiversity of the beech forests.
At the Dies Academicus 2024, the GIUZ Air Miles Group was honoured with the UZH Team Effort Award 2023 for its pioneering role in reducing flight-related emissions at the University of Zurich. Congratulations!
How can we value nature? What does the dramatic loss of biodiversity mean for us? In an interview with the Handelszeitung, Michael Schaepman, founding father of the World Biodiversity Forum, says that Switzerland could play a more exemplary role in implementing the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework.
The Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) and the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) jointly released the European State of the Climate 2023 report. The report provides a summary of the climate in Europe, in the Arctic, and globally, based on authoritative data sources compiled by institutions across Europe. The World Glacier Monitoring Service (WGMS) contributed glacier data and analyses.
Ein neues studentisches Projekt beschäftigt sich mit der Entwicklung der feministischen Geographie am Institut. Nach viel Archivarbeit und Interviews mit Zeitzeug:innen werden nun die Ergebnisse in Form eines Podiums vorgestellt. Zeitzeug:innen werden von ihren Erfahrungen während des Studiums, der Diplomarbeit und nach dem Studium erzählen.
Climate change is also affecting our waters. To better adapt and prepare, we need a lot of data from rivers, streams and lakes around the world. This can be collected with the CrowdWater App. It was presented on the children's channel of German television.
We would have triggered so many tipping points in the climate system that it would be an uncomfortable world, says Michael Zemp, Director of the World Glacier Monitoring Service. But if we achieve the climate target of no more than 2 degrees of warming, a large proportion of the glaciers can be saved. "We have to stop just talking about it, we have to act."
The new IceAgeCam installation on Felsenegg gives an impressive demonstration of the human influence on climate change. Visitors can immerse themselves in an interactive experience of the changing glacial landscapes. The joint project by researchers from UZH, the University of Lausanne and the Zurich University of the Arts is officially launched today with an event at the Felsenegg lookout point.
In the “City without Papers” project, geography students collaboratively investigate undocumented migrants’ precarious living conditions. This new type of teaching format is devoted to addressing current questions in urban studies research and in the process challenges traditional roles in science and teaching.
The Faculty of Science operates research stations in far-flung places all over the world. Some of them are featured in the current UZH Magazine, including the one in southern Greenland, where GIUZ researchers are investigating the interaction between glaciers and fjords.
On February 1st 2024, Livia Piermattei started her position as Assistant Professor in Remote Sensing of Environmental Changes, a new research group within the Remote Sensing Laboratories at the Department of Geography, University of Zurich. Welcome!
In the exhibition "Mirror of Nature: Biodiversity through the Lens of Technology and Art", the installation "Natural Images Massage" developed by Claudia Röösli and Jochem Braakhekke in collaboration with Katharina Weikl (Art x Science UZH) and the Chinese artist Han Bo was shown at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Shanghai. Lying down on a massage bed, visitors watched time-lapse satellite images that show the progressive destruction of biodiversity on our planet with alarming clarity.
Ein Start-up erntet Eis von den schrumpfenden Gletschern Grönlands, verkauft es an Cocktailbars in Dubai und behauptet, damit die Klimaerwärmung zu bremsen. Samuel Nussbaumer vom GIUZ widerspricht: «Man könnte sogar umgekehrt argumentieren, dass die hellen Eisschollen die einfallende Strahlung besser reflektieren als die dunkle Meeresoberfläche.»
Instead of blindly following Google Maps, we should have a different kind of navigation system that helps us learn from the environment as we go, argues Sara I. Fabrikant. Ahead of her Robert Blumberg Distinguished Lecture in Cognitive Science at the University of Riga, she talked about the intricate interplay between digital navigation tools and human cognition.
Sara Irina Fabrikant is leaving the Swiss Science Council after eight years. She has learnt that political work requires a lot of patience and persistence. Now she is writing a book on improving access to geographic information on mobile devices.
Im Rahmen der Ausstellung «Earth Beats» am Kunsthaus Zürich sind Podcasts mit Expert:innen aus vielen Wissensgebieten entstanden. Einer davon ist der Gletscherforscher Samuel Nussbaumer.
