Swiss Glaciers Lose Over 5% of Ice Volume in 2026

More than 5% of the ice volume held by Switzerland's glaciers disappeared during 2026, the monitoring network GLAMOS reported, as a low-snow winter followed by a record-breaking summer heat wave sped up melting throughout the Alps.¹³

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A second severe year

Several reports citing GLAMOS put the 2026 loss at 5.5% of ice volume, following a winter that brought unusually little snow and a summer of record heat that stripped glaciers of protective cover. The reduction makes 2026 the second-largest annual loss on record, behind the 6% recorded in 2022, when Saharan dust settling on the ice further accelerated melting.⁴²³

According to The Straits Times, the rate of loss in 2026 did not reach the record highs of 2022, though GLAMOS director Matthias Huss described conditions as increasingly extreme. "We are seeing extreme years almost every year now and this is really a worrying situation," he said.³

Individual glaciers including the Aletsch, Rhône, Allalin and Clariden experienced record melting in 2026. Average thickness declined by 2.5 to 4 metres across Swiss glaciers, with some glacier tongues shrinking by up to 10 metres, according to multiple reports.²⁴¹

Water and power impact

In just the three months from July through September, Switzerland's glaciers shed roughly 2.2 trillion litres in water equivalent — a quantity several reports equate to more than four times the country's yearly household drinking-water use. Switzerland, whose population is about 9.1 million, draws more than half its electricity from hydropower and has been described in the reporting as the "water tower of Europe."³⁶²⁴

According to NPR, the summer's melting overlapped with wider disruptions across Europe, as shipping along the Rhine and Danube halted and several nuclear plants were forced offline temporarily due to diminished river levels.¹

Disasters linked to melting ice

The Swiss village of Blatten was destroyed after a glacier collapse brought about 9 million cubic metres of ice, rock and mud down on the settlement; its population had been evacuated beforehand, and residents reportedly remained in temporary accommodation a year later, according to NPR.¹

In Nepal, a glacier collapse near the border with Tibet triggered flooding that killed at least 1,400 people, according to NPR. Global warming is reported to have helped destabilise a Himalayan slope that collapsed in August. Huss said such events can be connected to warming conditions: "Combined with this heat, with the disappearance of the ice, with the warming of permafrost, climate change can be a triggering factor."¹²

Scientists' assessment

GLAMOS and the Swiss Academy of Sciences said in a joint statement that "Alpine glaciers have no chance of surviving in the long term under such conditions," according to LA NACION/AFP. Huss maintained that today's warming can be traced entirely back to human causes, stating: "The warming that we are experiencing now can be attributed 100% to anthropogenic climate change. It's as simple as that."²

Huss also stressed the protective role of winter snow cover, saying it shields bare ice from melting and helps form new ice at high elevation. NPR reported that, according to Huss, all glaciers would be gone by the end of the century if warming continues at the current rate, and that roughly 1,200 smaller glaciers have disappeared in Switzerland over the past 50 years.²¹