Swiss glaciers lose 5.5% ice volume in 2026, record retreat worsens
· World · The Independent, Euronews
Swiss glaciers lost 5.5% of their ice volume this year, the second-biggest percentage drop on record driven by heat waves and low winter snowfall, GLAMOS and the Swiss Academy of Sciences reported Thursday. Over the past five years, ice volume in Switzerland has declined nearly 20%, with the total ice mass now roughly a third of what it was in 2003. Alpine glacier expert Matthias Huss stated that without anthropogenic climate change and fossil fuel emissions, the current warming would not be occurring. This year's retreat follows the record loss in 2022, when Saharan dust and extreme heat accelerated melting. The great thaw in Europe's Alps is part of a global trend, with satellites showing vast glacier shrinkage in Greenland and Antarctica over recent decades.
Why it matters
The accelerating loss of Swiss glaciers threatens freshwater supplies for downstream regions and highlights the immediate impacts of anthropogenic climate change on Europe's water towers.
Read the original report — The Independent
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