Wanner studied
geography,
climatology,
geology and
mathematics in
Bern and
Grenoble (
France). His supervisors were
Bruno Messerli, Max Schüepp and Charles Peguy. He initially worked on synoptic climatology, mesoscale dynamics and mountain meteorology. From 2007 until his retirement in 2010, he was the founding president of the
Oeschger Centre for Climate Change Research at the University of Bern. His main interest today is in the interrelationships between the Earth's climate dynamics and the development of societies. Wanner has published over 200 scientific articles in specialist journals. His book
Climate and Humans. A 12,000-Year History (in German) was published in 2016. In 2021, together with
Christian Pfister, he published the comprehensive work
Climate and Society in Europe. The Last Thousand Years. Wanner chaired the Swiss Forum for Climate and Global Change ProClim and was also founding president of the Swiss government's advisory body on climate issues OcCC in 1996. == Honors ==