At This Rate, Alps' Glaciers Will All Disappear

Switzerland's glaciers aren't just shrinking; they're vanishing at a pace that has stunned the people measuring it. A new report from Glacier Monitoring in Switzerland (GLAMOS) finds the country has lost about a fifth of its glacier ice since 2021, with 2026 bringing some of the steepest drops ever recorded and outpacing the previous worst year, 2022, at some sites. Glaciologist Matthias Huss of ETH Zurich calls it "a catastrophic year," with volume dropping 5.5%, per AFP. He calls this "completely unsustainable," warning that in today's climate "we cannot keep glaciers in the Alps."

Both the Aletsch and Rhone glaciers experienced record melting this year, per AFP. On Aletsch Glacier, the largest in the Alps, scientists documented a vertical thinning of 15 feet. Some glacier tongues lost up to 33 feet of ice, and several small glaciers disappeared entirely. The five-year melt rate is now double that of any other five-year period, the Washington Post reports. About 27% of volume has been lost in the past 10 years, compared to 10% between 1990 and 2000. The rapid melt, fueled by record heat, dry winters, and warming even at high elevations, not only threatens the glaciers themselves, but also Switzerland's hydropower supply, which depends heavily on glacial runoff.