DistantNews
Support us
🇨🇭 Switzerland /Environment & Climate

Natural-hazards expert Markus Stoffel: “We must prepare for unprecedented events”

From Le Temps · () French

Translated from French and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

In-depth Named sources New plan
  • Markus Stoffel, a University of Geneva professor specializing in natural hazards and debris flows, has received a new chair focused on climate change and natural hazards.
  • The chair will receive 2.5 million Swiss francs over five years from the Axa Foundation for Human Progress.
  • Stoffel’s research at the Ritigraben site reconstructed 127 debris-flow events since 1570 using 2,450 samples from 1,102 conifers.

On the trails above Grächen in the Zermatt Valley, Markus Stoffel walks through a landscape shaped by past debris flows. Moss-covered boulders scattered through the forest bear witness to the torrents that reshaped the area in 1922.

We must prepare for unprecedented events.

· Markus StoffelThe natural-hazards specialist describes the need to anticipate future risks linked to climate change.

“This is my territory. It is the first site I studied,” Stoffel says. The University of Geneva professor, who specializes in natural hazards and particularly debris flows, has now received a new chair dedicated to the impact of climate change on natural hazards.

The chair is financed with 2.5 million Swiss francs over five years by the Axa Foundation for Human Progress. Stoffel calls it “a unique opportunity.” His predecessor at the University of Geneva, climatologist Martin Beniston, offers a warm assessment: “The student has surpassed the teacher.” He adds: “He has incredible energy.”

This is my territory. It is the first site I studied.

· Markus StoffelStoffel speaks while visiting the trails above Grächen, where he began his research.

At an altitude of 2,600 meters, a rock glacier moves down the slope. Farther below, a thin stream winds between the stones. Debris flows occur frequently in the Ritigraben. Stoffel studied the site for eight years in the early 2000s. Trained in geomorphology and dendrochronology, the science of reading tree-growth rings, he collected 2,450 samples from 1,102 conifers growing on the torrent’s alluvial fan.

A unique opportunity.

· Markus StoffelHe describes the new University of Geneva chair dedicated to climate change and natural hazards.

“That is a lot, but it allowed us to reconstruct one of the world’s longest data series on debris flows,” he explains. The research documented 127 events dating back to 1570 and compared them with records from the Grächen weather station, installed in 1864. The precision of those records has given the site an international reputation.

The student has surpassed the teacher.

· Martin BenistonStoffel’s predecessor at the University of Geneva praises his scientific career.
About this summary

Originally published by Le Temps in French. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

More Stories

From Our Blog