Swiss glaciers lost 19.4% of their ice volume over five years, an annual monitoring report found. Heatwaves and limited winter snowfall contributed to another near-record year of melting.
The report recorded a 5.5% reduction during the first eight months of 2026, just below the record loss in 2022. Individual glaciers lost between 2.5 metres and four metres of mean ice thickness.
Researchers from the Swiss Glacier Monitoring Network and the Swiss Commission for Cryosphere Observation compiled the findings.
Meanwhile, lead author and glaciologist Matthias Huss described a change in how glaciers are breaking apart. Meltwater streams beneath the ice carve out caverns whose roofs can collapse, accelerating retreat beyond surface melting.
Huss told The Guardian that places covered by thick ice a generation ago now consist of bare rock and scattered ice blocks. “They’re really just falling apart,” he said.
Separately, MeteoSwiss found that April to September was Switzerland’s hottest and driest summer half-year since records began in 1864. It published that analysis on Tuesday.
Read: Blatten Glacier Collapse Survivors Rebuild in Alps
Although summer heat exceeded that of 2022, glacier losses remained below that year’s record. Researchers attributed the difference partly to fewer Saharan dust deposits and slightly greater snow cover at winter’s end.
Dust darkens snow and reduces its ability to reflect sunlight. Scientists have not yet completed a formal count of glaciers lost this year, but Huss said he saw several small glaciers disappear.
Read: Mysterious Remains Emerge as Glaciers Melt in Austria
He visited the former Plattalvafirn, also called the Griess glacier, in September. It had lost 99% of its area over 20 years. Swiss glaciers lost 19.4% of their ice volume over five years, according to an annual monitoring report.
