Switzerland is losing 10% of its glaciers in two years as hot summers “dramatically” accelerate ice loss

Switzerland has lost 10 percent of its glaciers in the last two years as hot summers and a lack of snow accelerate ice loss “dramatically.”

A committee of the Swiss Academy of Sciences reports a dramatic acceleration in glacier melting in the Alpine country.

Switzerland has the most glaciers of all European countries.

It lost four percent of its total glacier volume in 2023, the second-largest decline in a single year, in addition to a six percent decline in 2022, the largest thaw since measurements began, the academy’s Cryosphere Observation Commission said.

Experts at glacier monitoring center GLAMOS have been on the lookout for possible extreme melting this year, as there are early warning signs for the country’s estimated 1,400 glaciers, which are now dwindling in number.

Switzerland has lost 10 percent of its glaciers in the last two years as hot summers and a lack of snow accelerate ice loss “dramatically.”

The head of the Swiss glacier measurement network GLAMOS, Matthias Huss, checks the thickness of the Rhone glacier near Goms, Switzerland

Switzerland is home to the most glaciers of any country in Europe

The academy said: “The acceleration is dramatic, with as much ice lost in just two years as between 1960 and 1990.”

“The two extreme consecutive years have resulted in the collapse of glacier tongues and the disappearance of many smaller glaciers.”

Matthias Huss, head of GLAMOS, which was involved in the research, said in an interview that Switzerland had already lost up to 1,000 small glaciers and that “we are now starting to lose larger and more important glaciers too.”

“Glaciers are the messengers of climate change.” “They make it very clear what is happening out there because they are very sensitive to rising temperatures,” he said.

“The study once again underlines that there is great urgency to act now if you want to achieve stabilization.” [the] climate, and if you want to save at least some of the glaciers.’

The team said the “massive ice loss” was due to a winter with very small amounts of snow – which falls on the glaciers and protects them from direct sunlight – and high summer temperatures.

All of Switzerland – where the Alps cut a swath through most of the southern and central parts of the country – was affected, with glaciers in the southern and eastern regions melting almost as quickly as during the record thaw in 2022.

Swiss meteorologists reported in August that the zero-degree mark – the altitude at which water freezes – had reached the highest level ever recorded at nearly 5,300 meters (17,400 feet), meaning all Swiss Alpine peaks were experiencing temperatures above freezing ruled.