Explore 150 years of global warming data in Switzerland

Global warming naturally comes to mind as a topic for reflection while Switzerland swelters in a Europe-wide heatwave. To help inform our thinking about this, swissinfo.ch compiled more than 150 years of Swiss temperature data in graphics. It illustrates both the changing climate and hotter temperatures in Switzerland in recent decades. 

The Swiss meteorological office, MeteoSwiss, said it expected to record at least eight days of extraordinary temperatures in June 2017, compared to an average of two over recent past decades. 

The animated graphic below shows how the monthly average temperatures in Switzerland evolved over the past century and a half. An interactive graphic afterward lets users explore the data year by year. 

Since the 1980s, temperatures have risen markedly and since remained at a high level. Rising average temperature for all of Switzerland is clearly evident when looking at the deviation in yearly temperature against the 1981-2010 average. 

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