Snow and the water cycle in a changing climate

Due to climate change and the associated warming, the proportion of precipitation that falls as snow decreases measurably. In addition to this reduction in snowfall, the warmer temperatures also cause the snow cover to melt more quickly. The decline in snowfall has so far mainly affected lower altitudes, where winter temperatures often reach positive levels.

As climate change progresses, this trend is likely to continue and above all affect higher zones. Even at higher altitudes, the snow cover will then start later, melt away earlier and is increasingly no longer permanently present. This development will also have an effect on the water bodies.

Today nival regimes, i.e. regimes shaped by snow, are shifting towards pluvial regimes, i.e. regimes dominated by rain. Overall, winter runoff increases, summer runoff decreases. By the end of the century, the proportion of runoff from snowmelt will decrease throughout Switzerland, albeit to a lesser extent than the proportion from glacier melt.