Swiss Glaciers Lose over 5% of Ice Volume in 2026 as Heat Waves, Low Winter Snow Accelerate Thaw
- On Thursday, the Swiss Glacier Monitoring Network and the Swiss Commission for Cryosphere Observation reported that Swiss glaciers lost 5.5% of their ice volume in 2026, driven by a record-breaking European heatwave.
- A combination of record summer temperatures and insufficient winter snow drove the "enormous" melting, according to GLAMOS director Matthias Huss. The loss remains slightly below the 2022 record of 6% due to more winter snow cover.
- Scientists estimate Swiss glaciers lost around 2.2 trillion liters of water between July and September alone. Switzerland's largest glacier, Aletsch Glacier, suffered its biggest-ever melt this year, while Glacier de Tsanfleuron lost more than four meters of thickness.
- Known as Europe's "water tower," Swiss glaciers feed major rivers including the Rhine and Danube, but accelerated melt threatens to disrupt hydropower production and agricultural water supplies.
- Huss warned that Alpine glaciers have no chance of long-term survival under current conditions, with warming entirely driven by human emissions. "Now we are in this new world, in this future, where glaciers are just melting away," he said.
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The winter with little snow also accelerated the melting of glaciers.
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Swiss glaciers lose more than 5% of ice after record heatwave
LES DIABLERETS, Switzerland: Swiss glaciers are shrinking rapidly after suffering one of their worst years of ice loss during a record-breaking European heatwave.Switzerland's glaciers lost more than 5 per cent of their ice in 2026, a report by the Swiss Glacier Monitoring Network (GLAMOS) and the Swiss Commi
Switzerland's glaciers have lost more than five percent of their ice this year, according to a new report from the monitoring institute Glamos. Glaciologist Matthias Huss sees a "worrying" development.
Within five years, almost one fifth of the mass is gone, the hottest summer since 1864: the Swiss glaciers melt at a speed that researchers call unprecedented. For some, their end is foreseeable.
Glacier researchers speak of a "catastrophic year". Under the prevailing conditions, the Alpine glaciers would not have a chance to survive in the long term.
Glaciers in Switzerland lost around five percent of their ice masses this year. The snow cover was melted due to the heat in June.
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