An excavator works on the landslide in Bondo, Graubuenden in southern Switzerland, Friday, August 25, 2017. Police in eastern Switzerland says some residents of a village pummeled by a rocky mudslide have been authorized to return home, as searchers resumed the hunt for eight missing people. (Gian Ehrenzeller/Keystone via AP)
The Associated Press
GENEVA (AP) - Switzerland's environmental protection office says the effects of climate change are partially to blame for a mudslide through a southeastern village that left eight people missing after a massive chunk of rock broke off an Alpine mountainside.
Federal Office for the Environment director Marc Chardonnens said Switzerland must do more to brace for climate change.
His office said Monday that Switzerland has experienced an average temperature increase of 2 degrees Celsius since record-keeping began in 1864, over twice the world average of 0.9 degrees.
It said climate change effects include "urban heat islands" in Swiss cities, localized water shortages, and the instability of mountain flanks like the one that cracked and triggered Wednesday's mudslide in the village of Bondo.
Authorities on Saturday suspended the search for the eight missing.
A man rides his bike in Bondo, Graubuenden in southern Switzerland, Friday, Aug. 25, 2017. Police in eastern Switzerland says some residents of the village pummeled by a rocky mudslide have been authorized to return home, as searchers resumed the hunt for eight missing people. (Gian Ehrenzeller/Keystone via AP)
The Associated Press
Local residents drive back to Bondo in Graubuenden in southern Switzerland, Friday, Aug. 25, 2017. Police in eastern Switzerland says some residents of the village pummeled by a rocky mudslide have been authorized to return home, as searchers resumed the hunt for eight missing people. (Gian Ehrenzeller/Keystone via AP)
The Associated Press
A policeman walks with an inhabitant in Bondo, Graubuenden in southern Switzerland, Friday, Aug. 25, 2017. Police in eastern Switzerland says some residents of the village pummeled by a rocky mudslide have been authorized to return home, as searchers resumed the hunt for eight missing people. (Gian Ehrenzeller/Keystone via AP)
The Associated Press
A rocky mudslide rushes towards the village of Bondo, Graubuenden in southern Switzerland, Friday, Aug. 25, 2017, after it was already hit by one on Wednesday. (Gian Ehrenzeller/Keystone via AP)
The Associated Press
A rocky mudslide rushes towards the village of Bondo, Graubuenden in southern Switzerland, Friday, Aug. 25, 2017, after it was already hit by one on Wednesday. (Gian Ehrenzeller/Keystone via AP)
The Associated Press
A rocky mudslide rushes towards the village of Bondo, Graubuenden in southern Switzerland, Friday, Aug. 25, 2017, after it was already hit by one on Wednesday. (Gian Ehrenzeller/Keystone via AP)
The Associated Press
A rocky mudslide rushes towards the village of Bondo, Graubuenden in southern Switzerland, Friday, Aug. 25, 2017, after it was already hit by one on Wednesday. (Gian Ehrenzeller/Keystone via AP)
The Associated Press
A rocky mudslide rushes towards the village of Bondo, Graubuenden in southern Switzerland, Friday, Aug. 25, 2017, after it was already hit by one on Wednesday. (Gian Ehrenzeller/Keystone via AP)
The Associated Press
A rocky mudslide rushes towards the village of Bondo, Graubuenden in southern Switzerland, Friday, Aug. 25, 2017, after it was already hit by one on Wednesday. The village that was already cleaning up from a devastating one earlier that has left eight people missing. (Gian Ehrenzeller/Keystone via AP)
The Associated Press