Swiss glaciers have recorded a near-record loss of ice in 2026, with more than 5% of their remaining volume disappearing in the past 12 months, according to new data.
Scientists say the estimated 5.5% loss is an extraordinary rate of melting, driven by intense summer heatwaves and unusually low snowfall during the winter.
The scale of the loss is particularly significant because Alpine glaciologists previously considered losing 2% of glacier ice in a single year to be extreme.
“It’s really just disastrous,” said Dr Matthias Huss, director of Glacier Monitoring Switzerland, which produced the report.
Swiss glaciers entered the summer with less snow than usual following a mild winter. Much of the remaining snow then disappeared during intense heatwaves in May and June, exposing the darker ice underneath.
Bare ice absorbs more solar energy than fresh snow, accelerating the rate of melting during subsequent periods of extreme heat.
“Ten years ago, I wouldn’t have thought that it’s possible to lose glaciers so quickly,” said Dr Fabien Maussion, a glaciologist at the University of Bristol, who was not involved in the Swiss report.
“What’s happened over the summer now is extremely distressing… but at the same time it was to be expected from a climate scientist’s perspective,” he added.
Scientists warn that the rapid loss could create long-term problems for farming, hydropower and transport because glaciers act as important stores of water during hot and dry periods.
Researchers estimate that Swiss glaciers released about 2.2 trillion litres of meltwater between July and September.
While the water helped reduce shortages during the summer, scientists say the rapid release is reducing the amount of ice available for future years.
“Every drop of water that runs off during these heatwaves is kind of old water that’s been stocked in the glacier ice centuries or decades ago,” said Huss.
“It’s helping us [now] but it’s unsustainable, so we won’t have it at [our] disposal in the next heatwave.”
The impact has also been seen along the River Rhine, where water levels reached record lows in some areas, affecting shipping routes and increasing transport costs.
Scientists say the loss of snow at higher elevations is particularly concerning.
At some monitoring sites as high as 3,500 metres above sea level, researchers found no snow remaining at the end of summer.
“At some glaciers we’ve seen four metres of ice loss at the highest point, where they should be covered by several metres of winter snow at this time of the year,” Huss said.
Snow provides the material glaciers need to replace ice lost through melting. When snow fails to survive the summer, glaciers lose more ice than they can replace.
“Glaciers are complex because they gain mass at the top and they flow downstream, so there is a lot of physics,” explained Maussion.
“But in its simplest form, what we see right now is that we took an ice cube out of the fridge and it’s just melting in front of our eyes.”
Scientists say temperatures are now too high for some Alpine glaciers to survive. Plattalva in eastern Switzerland is among those that have already disappeared.
However, researchers say reducing carbon emissions could still help protect much of the world’s remaining glacier ice, particularly in the Himalayas and polar regions.
“There we still can make a big difference with protecting the climate,” said Huss.
“If these ice masses can be saved or stabilised, we can limit the rise of global sea levels… which could affect billions of people living along the coast.”
Faridah Abdulkadiri
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