Swiss glaciers lose 5.5% of their mass this year

Glaciers in Switzerland have lost 5.5% of their mass due to abnormally high temperatures and a winter with little snowfall across Europe. As a result, 2026 has marked the second-largest retreat of glaciers since records began, the Swiss Glacier Monitoring Network (GLAMOS) said.

According to Report, he said glacier melting between 2022 and 2026 was "more than twice as high as during any previously observed five-year period." Over the past five years, glaciers have lost nearly one-fifth of their mass. The decline stood at about 10% in 1990–2000 and reached 27% over the past decade.

According to the Swiss Federal Office of Meteorology and Climatology, June, July and August were the hottest months in the country since records began in 1864. The GLAMOS report said that the protective snow cover on glaciers partially disappeared during the heatwaves in June. By September, it had completely melted, even at higher elevations.

"Under such conditions, Alpine glaciers have no chance of surviving in the long term," the report said.