In: Geophysical Research Letters, 2005, vol. 32, p. L01812
Investigations conducted for several Swiss mountain climatological sites, and in particular the Saentis high mountain site at 2,500 m above sea level, show that positive temperature anomalies during the winter season currently exceed those of all other seasons. These “heat waves” exhibit daily maximum temperature anomalies sometimes in excess of 16°C, and are observed to have increased...
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In: Global and Planetary Change, 2004, vol. 44, p. 1-9
This short introductory paper illustrates some key issues concerning extremes by focusing on daily temperature extremes defined using quantiles and threshold exceedances. The examples include both a low- and a high-elevation site in the Swiss Alps where long records of homogenous daily data are readily available. The analysis of extremes highlights several features, some of them taken from...
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In: Geophysical Research Letters, 2004, vol. 31, p. L02202
The 2003 heat wave that affected much of Europe from June to September bears a close resemblance to what many regional climate models are projecting for summers in the latter part of the 21st century. Model results suggest that under enhanced atmospheric greenhouse-gas concentrations, summer temperatures are likely to increase by over 4°C on average, with a corresponding increase in the...
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In: Theoretical and Applied Climatology, 2003, vol. 76, p. 125
Snow is a key feature of mountain environments in terms of the controls it exerts on hydrology, vegetation, and in terms of its economic significance (e.g., for the ski industry). Its quantification in a changing climate is thus important for various environmental and economic impact assessments. Based on observational analysis, surface energy balance modeling, and the latest data from...
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In: Theoretical and Applied Climatology, 2003, vol. 74, no. 1-2, p. 19-31
In many instances, snow cover and duration are a major controlling factor on a range of environmental systems in mountain regions. When assessing the impacts of climatic change on mountain ecosystems and river basins whose origin lie in the Alps, one of the key controls on such systems will reside in changes in snow amount and duration. At present, regional climate models or statistical...
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In: Theoretical and Applied Climatology, 2002, vol. 73(3-4), p. 133-150
A study has been conducted to assess the reasons for a significant decrease in the astronomic observing period since the Very Large Telescope of ESO (the European Southern Observatory) went into operation in 1998. Following a multi-year monitoring of meteorological parameters at the site of the ESO telescope in Paranal (northern Chile), the optimal climatic conditions observed there prior to the...
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In: Swiss Medical Weekly, 2002, vol. 25-26, p. 329
This paper addresses a number of problems relating climatic change and human health. Following an introduction that outlines the over-arching issues, a short summary is given on climatic change and its anthropogenic causes. The rest of the paper then focuses on the direct and indirect impacts of global climatic change on health. Direct effects comprise changes in the hygrothermal stress response...
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In: Dendrochronologia, 2002, vol. 20, no. 1, p. 117-131
This paper provides a brief overview of certain issues related to climate modeling and the role that dendrochronology can play, and has already played, in this context. Modeling is an essential approach to investigating the future evolution of the climate system in response to human activities. Tree-ring chronologies, on the other hand, have the capability of providing key parameters for...
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In: Theoretical and Applied Climatology, 2002, vol. 71(1-2), p. 29
An investigation has been undertaken to assess the manner in which the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) influences average, climatic conditions, and also extremes of dynamic and thermodynamic variables. By choosing representative sites in the Swiss Alps, the present study shows that there is a high sensitivity of the extremes of the probability density functions of temperature, moisture and...
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