The effects of climate change can be most clearly observed in the polar areas.

The first of many international glaciological expeditions to Greenland was organised by Swiss scientists in 1956.

Swiss researchers are now involved in the European Project for Ice Coring in Antarctica (EPICA). They made a major contribution to the 2005 drilling of an ice core from a depth of 2,874 meters (9,429 feet) which showed the greenhouse gas record for the past 650,000 years. Analysis of the core showed that today's atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration is 27% higher than the highest recorded level over that period.

Data from Antarctica evaluated by a team at the University of Bern was used in the film "An Inconvenient Truth", made by former US vice-president Al Gore. This film won the Oscar for Best Documentary in 2007.

Switzerland is an active participant in the International Polar Year being held in 2007-8.