MILESTONES FOR CLIMATE & ENVIRONMENT
In the last ca. 200 years, there have been many milestones for the climate and the environment. A significant turning point was the Industrial Revolution, which began in Great Britain in the late 18th century, around 1760, and ushered in the transition from agrarian societies to industrial production methods with factories, machines and steam power. This led to enormous economic growth, but also to increased use of fossil fuels such as coal.
As increasing amounts of coal were burned by railways, steamships and the steel industry, CO₂ emissions rose sharply from the 19th century onwards. By the time oil and gas came into use as fuels in the 20th century, greenhouse gas emissions were increasing exponentially, contributing to today’s climate crisis.
The 1960s and 1970s saw the beginning of the global environmental movement, which led to the founding of various initiatives such as the WWF, Earth Day and car-free Sundays. The foundations for international environmental policy were laid at the first United Nations Conference on the Human Environment in Stockholm in 1972.
The dots mark some of the most important milestones for the environment and the climate.
- Some historical events and supra-regional environmental crises are shown at the top.
- In the background are the ‘warming stripes’ for Switzerland from 1985 to 2024, a graphic initiative created by the British climate researcher Ed Hawkins (University of Reading). The coloured stripes represent average annual temperatures, from blue (cooler) to red (warmer). They show at a glance how temperatures have risen due to climate change.
- The Swiss maps at the bottom show the temperature deviations from the 1871-1900 average for each 10-year period. The large figures indicate the average deviations across Switzerland (data: MeteoSwiss).
The marked milestones are described in more detail on the screen in the exhibition. Click your way through time!