Swiss glaciers suffer 'disastrous' year of ice loss

Fresh data from Glacier Monitoring Switzerland shows ice loss across the country in 2026 was almost at record scale, following fierce heat through the summer months. Views from the south-east show the Morteratsch Glacier front worn by warm air and water.

Researchers say the key point is not that glaciers are retreating, which fits a warming climate linked mainly to fossil fuel use, but how fast it is happening. Director Dr Matthias Huss called the situation "It's really just disastrous,".

Conditions were poor before summer began, with unusually thin snow cover after a gentle winter. With darker exposed ice reflecting less sunlight, more solar heat was taken in, speeding thaw.

Dr Fabien Maussion, a glaciologist at the University of Bristol who did not take part in the work, said the speed would have seemed impossible a decade ago, describing it as "lose glaciers so quickly".

Glacier meltwater often supports crop watering, power production and shipping in hot dry spells, and it helped limit shortages this summer. But experts warn the rapid thaw is using up ice stored over decades or centuries, with risks for supplies in coming decades. Huss described runoff as "old water that's been stocked" in glacier ice.