3 juillet 2025|
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|5 months agoSwiss Forest Innovation: Trees Misted to Study Climate Adaptation
Scientists deploy high-tech misting system in Pfynwald forest to understand how Swiss forests might adapt to climate change
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Generated IllustrationKey Takeaways
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- Eighteen scaffolding towers, standing 15 metres tall, have been erected in the Pfynwald forest to spray vapour over 60 Scots pines.
- The experiment is a collaboration between the Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research (WSL) and EPFL.
- The Pfynwald is one of the hottest and driest places in Switzerland, located 615 metres above sea level.
- Initial results suggest that a dry atmosphere may actually slow down the foliage dieback process rather than speed it up.
By The Numbers
25 percent
reduction in summer rainfall
20 to 30 percent
reduction in air 'thirst'
2028
year
1,000
trees
They Said
"The goal is not to spray forests to save them, but to understand why a lack of water in the atmosphere has such a significant impact on forests."
"Imagine a glass of water in a desert and a glass of water in a rainforest. The temperature is the same. The glass of water empties very quickly in the desert, but not in the rainforest."
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