US EditionWhen Will Glaciers Vanish From the Alps? Scientists Have a New Estimate
Researchers warn that small glaciers are most vulnerable with up to 80% loss if warming reaches 2.7°C, highlighting urgent climate policy impact on glacier preservation.
- On December 15, 2025 researchers led by Lander Van Tricht at ETH Zurich published a study in Nature Climate Change projecting Alpine glaciers could disappear by the end of the century.
- Researchers counted glacier numbers as well as volume and surface area, asking how many of the 200,000+ glaciers worldwide will persist as anthropogenic climate change accelerates melting even at higher altitudes.
- At present around 750 to 800 glaciers vanish annually, defined by a disappearance threshold of surface area 0.01 km² or remaining mass 1%, with mid-century losses projected at 2,000–4,000 per year.
- Matthias Huss and colleagues say each glacier can be a cultural monument, noting glacier 'funerals' in recent years like the 2019 Pizol Glacier funeral attended by more than 250 people.
- Researchers warn the answer depends on the extent of global warming: half the glaciers would survive at the Paris Agreement 1.5°C target, but four out of five would vanish at the current estimate 2.7°C, and only one in ten remain under the 4°C worst-case scenario.
19 Articles
19 Articles
The average temperature on Earth could rise by 2.7 degrees Celsius by the end of the century.
Local 3 News
The funeral of the Pizol glacier in Switzerland, held in 2019, marked a symbolic moment of the global climate crisis. Hundreds of people gathered solemnly to say goodbye to this mass of ice, which had existed for 700 years. The mourners,...
By the year 2100, the earth will have lost at least half of its ice tongues. In the Alps, this will happen by 2045, according to a study conducted by ETH Zurich.
Die Presse
How many glaciers actually disappear quickly depends on how much human-made climate change can be contained. In extreme cases, only one in ten glaciers could survive, according to a new study by Swiss and Austrian researchers.
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