June 26, 2007 — Switzerland's climate has since the 1970s warmed twice as fast as the average for the northern hemisphere, a Swiss public research institute said Tuesday.

The Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research said in a study that temperatures in Switzerland increased by an average of 0.57 degrees Celsius per decade over the past 30 years, compared to an average 0.25-degree hike for the entire northern hemisphere.

Spring and winter were the seasons most affected, with an average increase in Switzerland of 0.8 degrees Celsius per decade during the same period, the institute said in a statement.