Eiszeit

The ice age began 2.6 million years ago. Since then, longer phases with very cold climates - the cold or ice ages - have alternated with shorter warm phases. Around 350,000 years ago, temperatures were particularly low and almost the whole of Switzerland was covered in ice. The last long ice age ended 12,000 years ago and since then we have been living in a warm period. However, the glacier advances of the ice age still characterize the landscapes of Switzerland today.

The temporary exhibition "Ice Age" created by the Olten Nature Museum provides an overview of the influence of glacial climate changes on the landscape of the Swiss Plateau. Photographs from the Arctic illustrate what the Swiss Plateau and the Alps looked like during the last ice age. The photographs are the work of glaciologist, secondary school teacher and author Dr. Jürg Alean from Eglisau.

The "Expedition 2 Grad" project, a virtual reality module from Zurich University of the Arts, ventures a look into the future: what does the global rise in temperature mean for glaciers in Switzerland? What does a temperature rise of 2 degrees Celsius mean in concrete terms for our landscape and our lives? Equipped with 3D glasses, the expedition participants (aged 10 and over) embark on the "Expedition 2 degrees": in a virtual world around the Great Aletsch Glacier, they experience the effects of the temperature increase in the alpine environment in an interactive and emotional way - up close, in fast motion and right before their eyes.


Note: This text was translated by machine translation software and not by a human translator. It may contain translation errors.