Swiss glaciers are melting, a record amount of ice was lost last year. What are the threats?
Swiss glaciers, suffering from the effects of climate change, have lost almost 20% of their mass in five years, experts said, noting that 2026 was the second largest melting event in the entire history of observations, writes the BBC.
According to a new study by the Swiss glacier monitoring network (GLAMOS), published after a record-hot summer preceded by a winter with little snowfall, the volume of Swiss glaciers has shrunk by 5.5% this year. Until recently, glaciologists in the Alps considered a 2% loss of ice in a single year to be "extreme".
New data shows that in 2026, Swiss glaciers experienced near-record ice loss due to summer heatwaves.
Over the past 12 months, more than 5% of the country's remaining glacier ice has disappeared, which scientists say is an extraordinary phenomenon. They warn that such rapid melting is no longer a surprise given the pace of climate change, but in the coming decades, it could jeopardize water supply for agriculture, hydropower, and transport.
The loss of glacial ice can also destabilize mountain slopes and increase the risk of rockfalls in some areas — which, in extreme cases, can lead to sudden floods, as happened in Nepal in August.
Many factors played a role in this event, caused by the collapse of a large block of bedrock and glacial ice. However, scientists note that the long-term thinning of glaciers and the thawing of permafrost likely increased the risks.
The most important conclusion of this report is not so much that Swiss glaciers are shrinking — which was to be expected given the warming climate caused primarily by fossil fuel emissions — but rather how rapidly the melting is occurring.
While Swiss glaciers have been shrinking for a long time, their melting has accelerated sharply recently. According to the report, while the volume of ice in Switzerland decreased by 10% between 1990 and 2000, losses in the last 10 years amounted to 27%.
GLAMOS based its conclusions on extensive measurements carried out in September on 23 reference glaciers, which were extrapolated to nearly 1,300 glacial formations still existing in Switzerland.
"No chance of survival"
According to the Swiss Federal Office of Meteorology and Climatology, last summer was the hottest on record in the country since 1864.
This year, the protective snow cover on the glaciers partially disappeared already during the June heatwaves, and by September, it had vanished completely, even at high altitudes, GLAMOS reported.
"Under such conditions, Alpine glaciers have no long-term chance of survival," GLAMOS said in a statement.
Due to significant melting this year, researchers even had to move measurement instruments — including those on the highest-altitude glaciers — further up the slope: in their previous locations, the ice had melted.
The average ice thickness on some glaciers decreased by 2.5–4 meters, while on more exposed glacier tongues, the thickness shrank by 10 meters over the summer.
Summer began difficultly for Swiss glaciers: after a mild winter, they were covered with less snow than usual. Most of this snow quickly disappeared during early and intense heatwaves in May and June, exposing the glacial ice beneath.
Exposed ice is darker and reflects less light than fresh snow, so it absorbs more solar energy. And during subsequent periods of intense heat, the glaciers melted even faster.
"Ten years ago, I wouldn't have thought that glaciers could be lost so quickly," said Dr. Fabien Maussion, a glaciologist at the University of Bristol who was not involved in preparing the Swiss report. "What happened this summer is deeply alarming..., but at the same time, from a climate scientist's perspective, it was expected."
Meltwater from glaciers is an important source for irrigation, hydropower, and even shipping during hot and dry periods.
According to scientists' estimates, between July and September, Swiss glaciers released 2.2 trillion liters of meltwater. While this helped mitigate the water shortage problem this summer, ice reserves quickly dwindled.
The loss of ice can create long-term problems, as smaller glaciers are not capable of replenishing water levels to the same extent.
"Every drop of water that flows off during these heatwaves is, so to speak, old water that was stored in glacier ice centuries or decades ago," says GLAMOS Director Dr. Matthias Huss. "This helps us now, but such a situation is unsustainable, so during the next heatwave, we will not be able to benefit from it."
This summer, water levels in the Rhine River in some places reached record lows, affecting shipping routes and leading to increased transport costs.
One of the most alarming discoveries was the observations by researchers at measurement points located at the highest altitudes, where temperatures are lowest, and glaciers are typically covered in snow year-round.
Even at an altitude of 3,500 meters above sea level, scientists found no traces of snow by the end of summer.
Snow is food for glaciers, and under stable conditions, part of it eventually compacts into ice. But if snow does not persist in summer, it cannot replenish the ice lost due to melting at lower and warmer altitudes. The glacier will "starve", shrink, and eventually disappear.
"On some glaciers, we recorded a loss of four meters of ice at the highest point, where at this time of year they should be covered by several meters of winter snow," Huss said.
Despite this year's higher temperatures, ice loss did not exceed the 2022 record because many glaciers received more snow before the summer melt than four years ago.
Additionally, less dust from the Sahara settled on the glaciers this year, allowing more sunlight to reflect back into the atmosphere rather than being absorbed by the snow.
However, there were exceptions.
This year, four large glaciers experienced record melting, including the famous Rhone Glacier and Aletsch — the largest glacier in the Alps.
Scientists state that the climate is now too warm for many Alpine glaciers to survive. Some of them, such as Plättalva in eastern Switzerland, have already disappeared.
However, researchers emphasize that a sharp reduction in carbon emissions can still save most of the planet's glacial ice. This is especially relevant for the Himalayas and polar regions, where most of this ice is concentrated.
"There, we can still make a significant contribution to climate protection," Huss said. "If we manage to save or stabilize these ice masses, we can limit the rise in global sea levels... which could affect billions of people living along the coasts."
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