Switzerland Loses Nearly One-Fifth of Glacial Ice in Five Years

Switzerland has lost approximately 20 percent of its glacial ice volume over the past five years, a sharp decline driven by record-breaking summer temperatures and insufficient winter snowfall, according to a new report released Thursday.

The study, published by the Swiss Glacier Monitoring Network (GLAMOS) and the Swiss Commission for Cryosphere Observation of the Swiss Academy of Sciences (SCNAT), indicates that the country’s glaciers lost 5.5 percent of their ice during the hydrologic year ending September 30, 2026. The data highlights an accelerating trend of melting that scientists attribute directly to anthropogenic climate change.

In September, GLAMOS researchers conducted end-of-summer measurements at 23 glaciers across Switzerland. At Scex Rouge, a glacier in the Western Swiss Alps, GLAMOS chief Matthias Huss observed dramatic losses over just two months. A measuring pole installed in July to track ice levels was found to be three meters higher than expected by early September, indicating a loss of three meters of ice at an elevation of nearly 3,000 meters.

“This clearly indicates these conditions that we had this summer, they are just inconsistent with the survival of these small glaciers in the Alps,” Huss told Al Jazeera, noting that the melt occurred even after excluding the extreme heatwaves of June and July.

The report further details that the mean thickness of individual Swiss glaciers fell by between 2.5 and four meters in 2026. At glacier tongues, where ice extends into bodies of water, some areas saw reductions of up to 10 meters during the summer alone.

Huss emphasized that while all glaciers are affected, smaller ones are disappearing most rapidly, sometimes vanishing completely. However, the volume of water lost is staggering: between July and September, Swiss glaciers shed approximately 2.2 trillion liters of water. Researchers noted this figure exceeds four times the annual drinking water consumption of all Swiss households.

The implications for Switzerland are significant. With about 4 percent of the national workforce employed in tourism, the recession of glaciers threatens a key economic sector. “They are no longer white but increasingly grey and black,” Huss described, altering the iconic Alpine landscape.

Beyond tourism, the melt impacts hydropower generation and European water supplies. Harry Zekollari, a glaciologist at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel, explained that glaciers act as natural reservoirs, releasing water during hot, dry summers. He warned that the peak water supply from Alpine glaciers has already passed, meaning future water availability will decrease as ice masses shrink.

Zekollari also highlighted the global consequences, noting that meltwater contributes to sea-level rise affecting coastlines worldwide. He stressed that immediate emission reductions could still preserve about one-third of Swiss glacier ice. Without such action, models project a loss of more than 90 percent of their volume by 2100. Globally, the difference between limited and strong warming could determine whether the world loses 25 percent or 50 percent of glacier mass by the century’s end.