Urban planning helps mitigate extreme weather effects in Haut-Valais

Olivier Lalancette, an EPFL Master's student in architecture, has come up with some development proposals for the Brig-Visp-Naters conurbation. His suggestions, relatively modest in scope, could help these cities better withstand the droughts and heavy rainfall that are expected to intensify by 2050. Lalancette hopes his study will start a conversation about the region's future. Switzerland is vulnerable to extreme weather events caused by climate change, now and in the future. MeteoSwiss has warned that if greenhouse gas emissions don't fall by 2050, temperatures could rise by 1.8-3.3°C in winter and 2.3-4.4°C in summer. Mountain regions are expected to experience more dramatic temperature increases than other areas. Rainfall over an average summer could decrease by 20% in the country, leading to long periods of drought like we saw this summer.