Sustainability

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Article list Sustainability

08.07.2026 Biocultural Heritage

Amazon’s Biocultural Heritage Under Greater Threat Than Expected

Indigenous cultures in the Amazon region will lose up to one-third of the native plant species they use due to climate change. In addition, biocultural knowledge is set to decline sharply by 2080 as a result of the loss of Indigenous languages. These are the findings of a new study by the University of Zurich.

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24.06.2026 Biodiversity

Environmental DNA Reveals Impact of Climate and Humans on Global River Fish Biodiversity

Human activity and climate influence biodiversity patterns in river ecosystems, as a global analysis of fish biodiversity using environmental DNA (eDNA) reveals.

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27.05.2026 Remote Sensing

ESA Mission to Explore Understory Biodiversity

The HiBiDiS mission aims to provide new insights into forest biodiversity, answering key questions about climate change. UZH is participating as a scientific partner.

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16.04.2026 UZH Staff

Between Campus and Society

Exhibitions that inspire and experiments that lead to new solutions: two UZH employees share how they bring knowledge to life.

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14.04.2026 Evolutionary Biology

How Soil Microbes Adapt to Life in Lakes

An analysis of bacteria in Lake Zurich reveals that some soil microbes acquire new traits in order to colonize new aquatic habitats, while others reduce their genome size.

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03.03.2026 UZH Sustainable

Imagine Lake Zurich Filled With Diamonds

Sustainability is no longer just nice-to-have, it’s a concrete call to action. The UZH Sustainable event showcased how the University of Zurich is answering this call.

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26.02.2026 Climate change

Global Warming Causes Cropland Areas to Shrink

The subtropics are particularly affected. Explore animated diagrams and interactive maps that show the extent of the decline in various climate scenarios.

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28.01.2026 Soil Ecology

Pesticides Significantly Affect Soil Life and Biodiversity

Seventy percent of soils in Europe are contaminated with pesticides. A Europe-wide study now shows that their effects on soil life are substantial, as pesticides suppress various beneficial soil organisms.

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13.08.2025 Glaciology

Falling Ice Drives Glacial Retreat in Greenland

When an iceberg calves, huge chunks of ice break off at the end of the glacier. These trigger high waves on the surface and underwater, pushing warmer sea water upwards. This accelerates the melting of the ice masses.

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05.06.2025 Plant sciences

Fungal Resistance in Wheat: Preserving Biodiversity for Food Security

Wheat production is threatened by a major fungal disease: yellow rust. UZH researchers have found traditional wheat varieties from Asia that harbor several resistance-conferring genes.

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15.05.2025 Climate Action

More Sustainability, Less Moral Preaching

If Switzerland and the EU want to become carbon-neutral by 2050, they need to overcome ideological rifts in business, politics and society.

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15.05.2025 Agroecology

Dual Associations with Two Fungi Improve Tree Fitness

Tree species that form symbioses with two different types of mycorrhizal fungi cope better with water and nutrient scarcity.

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15.05.2025 Natural History Museum

How Plants Communicate with Each Other

A new exhibition on plant communication marks the inclusion of botany at the University of Zurich’s Natural History Museum.

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02.05.2025 Plant Physiology

Natural Substitute for Pesticides

Chemical pesticides are becoming less and less effective. UZH plant immunologists are exploring a promising alternative that originates in the plants’ own natural defenses.

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26.03.2025 Global species loss

The Devastating Human Impact on Biodiversity

Humans are having a highly detrimental impact on biodiversity worldwide. Not only is the number of species declining, but the composition of species communities is also changing. These are the findings of one of the largest studies ever conducted on this topic.

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21.03.2025 World Day for Glaciers

Every Tenth of a Degree Helps

In many regions, the “eternal ice” of the glaciers will not survive beyond the 21st century – with fatal consequences for millions of people, reports the UZH-based World Glacier Monitoring Service.

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19.02.2025 Glaciology

Melting Glaciers Increase Loss of Freshwater Resources and Rise Global Sea Levels

The melting ice from glaciers worldwide is leading to an increased loss of regional freshwater resources. Since the year 2000, glaciers have been losing 273 billion tons of ice annually.

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30.01.2025 Environment and climate

Climate Change Increases Risk of Successive Natural Hazards in the Himalayas

An international research team reconstructed the Sikkim flood disaster in the Himalayas in October 2023 that triggered a deadly and devastating 20-meter flood wave.

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28.01.2025 Sustainability

Cafeteria Food and Carbon Footprints

Decarb UZH is a strategic project that gives new momentum to achieving climate neutrality at UZH. The university is reviewing its current implementation strategy to reduce greenhouse gas emissions as much as possible by 2030.

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18.12.2024 Nexus-Report

We must move away from silo thinking

Ecological crises such as biodiversity loss, climate change and food security are interconnected and must be tackled in a coordinated way. This is one of the core statements of the Nexus Assessment Report published by IPBES.

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