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Erich Fischer

@erichfischer.bsky.social

5.8K followers 330 following 49 posts

Climate scientist investigating weather and climate extremes, professor at ETH Zurich (@ethzurich.bsky.social), fascinated by weather and climate, IPCC AR6 lead author

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Environmental science 56%

Geography 18%

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Reposted by Erich Fischer

Zeke Hausfather @hausfath.bsky.social · Sep 8

Climate skeptics have long been obsessed with corrections to temperature records for changes in measurement techniques and instruments over time.

But it turns out that if we just used the raw data we'd see more warming. My latest at The Climate Brink: www.theclimatebrink....

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Reposted by Erich Fischer

Daniel Swain @weatherwest.bsky.social · Aug 27

A bit farther ahead, it's increasingly looking like a rather extreme late-season ridge & heatwave event may develop over Pacific NW & British Columbia in about a week--with some degree of anomalous warmth extending across most of the West (including California). #CAwx #ORwx #WAwx

Snapshot from ECMWF ensemble depicting an extreme and record-breaking ridge near British Columbia in ~6 days.

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Reposted by Peter Thorne, Fabrice Ardhuin, Jakob Zscheischler , and 1 more Peter Thorne, Fabrice Ardhuin, Jakob Zscheischler, Gilles Louppe

Erich Fischer @erichfischer.bsky.social · Aug 22

Numerical weather prediction models (ECMWF IFS) still outperform AI weather models in forecasting record-breaking hot and cold extremes and unseen wind extremes

Preprint
arxiv.org/abs/2508.15724

with Zhongwei Zhang @erichfischer.bsky.social @zscheischlerjak.bsky.social and Sebastian Engelke

Numerical models outperform AI weather forecasts of record-breaking extremes

Artificial intelligence (AI)-based models are revolutionizing weather forecasting and have surpassed leading numerical weather prediction systems on various benchmark tasks. However, their ability to ...

arxiv.org

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Erich Fischer @erichfischer.bsky.social · Aug 19

Wetterextreme und Sommer 2025

Ich war gestern Gast im SRF Tagesgespräch bei Karoline Arn. Ich habe die Wetterereignisse des Sommers 2025 eingeordnet und über unsere laufende Forschung am @usyseth.bsky.social
der @ethz.ch gesprochen.

www.srf.ch/audio/tagesg...

Erich Fischer: «Hitzewellen von fünf Wochen sind möglich»

Wie heiss kann es in der Schweiz maximal werden? Der Klimatologe Erich Fischer forscht zu Klima- und Wetterextremen an der ETH Zürich, auch zu Maximaltemperaturen in der Schweiz. Nun liegen belastbare...

www.srf.ch

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Reposted by Benjamin I. Cook

Erich Fischer @erichfischer.bsky.social · Aug 18

Honoured to be appointed Lead Author of IPCC #AR7 for the chapter 7 on "Projections of regional climate and extremes".
I am looking forward to contribute together with my @usyseth.bsky.social colleague @lukasgudmundsson.bsky.social
and IPCC WG1 vice-chair @soniaseneviratne.bsky.social

IPCC @ipcc.bsky.social · Aug 18

The #IPCC has announced the authors selected for its Seventh Assessment Report.

664 experts from 111 countries have been invited to participate as Coordinating Lead Authors, Lead Authors, & Review Editors.

🌍 51% from developing countries
🚺 46% women

🔗 bit.ly/AR7AuthorsPR

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IPCC @ipcc.bsky.social · Aug 18

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Reposted by Ana Bastos, Erich Fischer

Prof. Sonia I Seneviratne @soniaseneviratne.bsky.social · Mar 7

With @ethzurich.bsky.social colleagues & friends, we decided to #StandUpForScience this afternoon to express our support for our US colleagues. Science is a common good. Thanks to all those who joined so spontaneously!
@usyseth.bsky.social @eth-eaps.bsky.social @standupforscience.bsky.social

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Reposted by Hannah Cloke, Erich Fischer, Kevin J. Anchukaitis

Communications Earth & Environment @commsearth.nature.com · Jul 8

🌧️The July 2021 extreme rainfall in Western Europe was near the upper bound of plausibility in the current climate, though alternative storylines reveal more severe potential outcomes.
@vikkithompson.bsky.social @hancloke.bsky.social @erichfischer.bsky.social

👉
www.nature.com/articles/s43...

Alternative rainfall storylines for the Western European July 2021 floods from ensemble boosting - Communications Earth & Environment

The July 2021 extreme rainfall event in Western Europe appears near the upper bound of plausibility in the current climate, though alternative storylines revealing the potential for even more severe o...

www.nature.com

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Reposted by Peter Thorne, Jamie Hannaford, Erich Fischer , and 1 more Peter Thorne, Jamie Hannaford, Erich Fischer, Ed Hawkins

Vikki Thompson @vikkithompson.bsky.social · Jul 8

📣 New paper:
💧💧💧 In July 2021 record breaking rainfall hit western Europe, we use ensemble boosting to explore different plausible storylines. These show it could have rained for longer, or over a larger area, or in a different place. Are we prepared?

doi.org/10.1038/s432...

Showing the rainfall of 14th July 2021 (upper left) and 5 alternative scenarios derived from a climate model, conditioned to the atmospheric circulation patterns of the observed event.
Similar to fig.6 of https://www.nature.com/articles/s43247-025-02386-y

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Erich Fischer @erichfischer.bsky.social · Jul 2

Schon 34.5°C um 13:40 in Basel! Ohne Gewitter dürfte es ein sehr warmes Eröffnungsspiel der Schweiz an der #WEURO2025 werden.

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Reposted by Erich Fischer

Matthias Huss @matthias-huss.bsky.social · Jun 30

In about 4 days from now, we are going to hit the #Glacier Loss Day in Switzerland! All melting from this point onwards till next winter is unsustainable, i.e. is long-term mass loss.
This is extremely early in the season! And just a bit behind the record-shattering year 2022...

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Erich Fischer @erichfischer.bsky.social · Jun 30

In den letzten 75 Jahren sind mehr Hitzerekorde aufgetreten, als man eigentlich in 100'000 Jahren erwarten würde. Verantwortlich dafür ist die aussergewöhnlich hohe Erwärmungsrate. Es gilt: Je schneller die Erwärmung, desto häufiger die Hitzerekorde.

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Erich Fischer @erichfischer.bsky.social · Jun 30

Die Hitze bricht schon wieder Rekorde: 46 °C in Spanien und Schmelztemperaturen auf dem Mont Blanc. Was früher Ende Juli oder Anfang August extrem war, tritt heute schon im Juni auf.

Heute treten jährlich mehr als viermal so viele Hitzerekorde auf, wie man es ohne den Klimawandel erwarten würde.

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Erich Fischer @erichfischer.bsky.social · Jun 30

Viermal mehr Hitzerekorde als ohne Klimawandel

Eigentlich gilt: Je länger die Messreihen, desto seltener neue Rekorde.

Doch das Gegenteil ist der Fall – wie wir in unserem Reviewartikel in Nature Reviews Earth & Environment zeigen.

Blog: www.carbonbrief.org/guest-post-h...

Paper: rdcu.be/et273

Guest post: How climate change is fuelling record-breaking extreme weather - Carbon Brief

Recent years have seen a rapid succession of climate-related records broken.

www.carbonbrief.org

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Reposted by Erich Fischer

WSL Extremes Research Program @extremeswsl.bsky.social · Jun 23

Die gegenwärtige #Hitze führt zu zunehmendem Temperaturstress für #Fische in #Schweizer #Fliessgewässern, insbesondere in der Thur, Goldach, Broye und Tresa. Mehr auf www.drought.ch/de/impakt-vo... des Projektes #MaLeFix der @wslresearch.bsky.social. @hydrologywsl.bsky.social @eawag.bsky.social

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Reposted by Erich Fischer

BAFU | OFEV | UFAM | FOEN @bafu.admin.ch · Jun 19

🔥 Hitzewellen werden häufiger & intensiver – und belasten die Gesundheit, Landwirtschaft & Infrastruktur.
Besonders gefährdet: ältere & verletzliche Menschen.
💧 Auch Trockenheit & Wassermangel nehmen zu.
Die CH muss sich anpassen.
👉https://dieumwelt.ch/artikel/klimarisiken-in-der-schweiz

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Reposted by Erich Fischer, Benjamin I. Cook, Aiko Voigt , and 2 more Erich Fischer, Benjamin I. Cook, Aiko Voigt, Valerie Mueller, Clark Gray

Lukas Brunner @lukasbrunner.bsky.social · Jun 17

New paper in ERL! We study the importance of resolution for the representation of climate extremes.

We use a new generation of km-scale models to show that many important details about temperature and precipitation extremes are hidden at CMIP6-like resolutions.

doi.org/10.1088/1748...

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Erich Fischer @erichfischer.bsky.social · Jun 13

Thanks to the @carbonbrief.org team and my co-authors. The ‪Nature Reviews Earth&Enivronment‬ review paper is available here:
rdcu.be/eqPrN

Record-breaking extremes in a warming climate

Nature Reviews Earth & Environment - Multiple record-breaking climate events have been observed, posing socioeconomic risks. This Review outlines observed and projected changes in...

rdcu.be

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Erich Fischer @erichfischer.bsky.social · Jun 13

Find the original @natrevearthenviron.nature.com article with important contributions from co-authors Margot Bador, Raphaël Huser, Lizzie Kendon, Alexander Robinson, and @sebastian-sippel.bsky.social
rdcu.be/eqPrN

Record-breaking extremes in a warming climate

Nature Reviews Earth & Environment - Multiple record-breaking climate events have been observed, posing socioeconomic risks. This Review outlines observed and projected changes in...

rdcu.be

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Erich Fischer @erichfischer.bsky.social · Jun 13

High warming rate fuels record-breaking weather

The longer our measurements, the fewer record-breaking events we should observe.

The opposite is the case - many more records and higher record margins

I summarise the key takeaways of our ‪@natrevearthenviron.nature.com article in a guest post.

Carbon Brief @carbonbrief.org · Jun 13

NEW – Guest post: How climate change is fuelling record-breaking extreme weather | @erichfischer.bsky.social‬

Read here: buff.ly/bnrSvQN

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Reposted by Erich Fischer

Carbon Brief @carbonbrief.org · Jun 13

NEW – Guest post: How climate change is fuelling record-breaking extreme weather | @erichfischer.bsky.social‬

Read here: buff.ly/bnrSvQN

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Reposted by Erich Fischer

Gunnar Myhre @gunnarmy.bsky.social · Jun 12

Happy to share our paper in ‪@science.org‬ 'Observed trend in Earth energy imbalance may provide a constraint for low climate sensitivity models' | Science www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

Observed trend in Earth energy imbalance may provide a constraint for low climate sensitivity models

Climate forcings by greenhouse gases and aerosols cause an imbalance at the top of the atmosphere between the net incoming solar radiation and outgoing longwave radiation from Earth. This Earth energy...

www.science.org

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Reposted by Erich Fischer

Nature Geoscience @natgeosci.nature.com · Jun 2

⚒️ Article: Flash droughts that are accompanied by extreme heat drive more severe and prolonged impacts on global ecosystems

@erichfischer.bsky.social @ethz.ch @louiseslater.bsky.social @sebastian-sippel.bsky.social @retoknutti.bsky.social

www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Schematic illustrations of the onset mechanisms of compound heat flash droughts and non-heat flash droughts

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Erich Fischer @erichfischer.bsky.social · May 15

Very good points! We had argued in several papers that dry springs can be considered a necessary but not sufficient condition for extreme summer heatwaves, particularly in central and eastern Europe.
The papers below further supported this asymmetric predictability with observational evidence.

https://www.nature.com/articles/ngeo1032

Reposted by Sonia I. Seneviratne, Wim Thiery, Erich Fischer

Wim Thiery @wimthiery.bsky.social · May 12

Will you live an unprecedented life?

In our new paper in @nature.com and accompanying @savethechildren.org report, we detect who will face unprecedented lifetime exposure to climate extremes (🧵) 1/n
Report: resourcecentre.savethechildren.net/document/bor...
Paper: www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Born into the Climate Crisis 2. An unprecedented life: Protecting children’s rights in a changing climate | Save the Children’s Resource Centre

The climate crisis is not a distant threat; it is a pressing reality that children are facing today. Despite having contributed the least to the climate crisis, the inherent intergenerational injustic...

resourcecentre.savethechildren.net

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Erich Fischer @erichfischer.bsky.social · May 7

Carbon Brief article: www.carbonbrief.org/children-bor...

Summary by @usyseth.bsky.social at usys.ethz.ch/en/news-even...

Honoured to have contributed to this paper along with
@innevanderkelen.bsky.social @soniaseneviratne.bsky.social @lukasgudmundsson.bsky.social
@wimthiery.bsky.social

Children born in 2020 will face ‘unprecedented exposure’ to climate extremes - Carbon Brief

Children born in 2020 will face “unprecedented exposure” to extreme weather events even if warming is limited to 1.5C.

www.carbonbrief.org

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Erich Fischer @erichfischer.bsky.social · May 7

Our children will face unprecedented exposure to weather extremes.

Our paper led by Luke Grant and @wimthiery.bsky.social published in @nature.com shows that the generation of our children and grandchildren will be exposed to a lot more weather extremes than ours.

www.nature.com/articles/s41...

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Reposted by Erich Fischer

Inne Vanderkelen @innevanderkelen.bsky.social · May 7

or in the Carbon Brief article: www.carbonbrief.org/children-bor...

Grateful and proud to have contributed to this important study, led by Luke Grant and @wimthiery.bsky.social , with @soniaseneviratne.bsky.social and @erichfischer.bsky.social

Children born in 2020 will face ‘unprecedented exposure’ to climate extremes - Carbon Brief

Children born in 2020 will face “unprecedented exposure” to extreme weather events even if warming is limited to 1.5C.

www.carbonbrief.org

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Reposted by Sonia I. Seneviratne, Wim Thiery, Erich Fischer

Inne Vanderkelen @innevanderkelen.bsky.social · May 7

📢 Hot off the press: our new study in Nature, led by Luke Grant and @wimthiery.bsky.social, shows how climate change is redefining what it means to live an "unprecedented life"—facing climate extremes that would have been nearly impossible without human influence.

www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Global emergence of unprecedented lifetime exposure to climate extremes - Nature

Climate models, impact models and demographic data are used to estimate the number of people projected to experience unprecedented lifetime exposure to extreme climate events across multiple dimension...

www.nature.com

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