Climate Change is Already Here

On the road to Lausanne a taxi driver switched on the air conditioning and told us it's too hot nowadays even in the Swiss Alps.

A Swiss climate scientist and Professor of climate physics at ETH Zurich's Institute for Atmospheric and Climate Science, Reto Knuti isn’t surprised at that. He says the climate change is not in the future, it is here. For this period of time the temperature is 10 degree Celsius higher of normal, and the number of hot days is increased.

Professor Knuti, speaking about necessary changes, believes that some things should be done with technology. People need to get rid of fossil fuels in every sector of life, such as heating, electricity and mobility. He believes that the problem is everywhere, and that people actually know the solutions already. For example, we have the technology to replace fossil-based heating systems. To implement such a shift, however, requires incentives or boundary conditions, tax regimes or other mechanisms to encourage or force people to make those changes. For instance, in Norway about 50% of cars are electric because the government makes that an attractive option. Professor Knuti says that change doesn't come by random motivation, and people and politicians need to understand that.

Opinions expressed in the blog posts are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of WCSJ2019