Swiss glaciers lose 5.5% of ice volume in 2026
Monitoring findings reported on 1 October 2026 put Switzerland’s glacier ice loss at 5.5% for the year and 19.4% since 2021, following summer heat and limited winter snowfall.
In short
- Monitoring findings reported on 1 October 2026 put Switzerland’s glacier ice loss at 5.5% for the year and 19.4% since 2021, following summer heat and limited winter snowfall.
Switzerland’s glaciers lost 5.5% of their ice volume in 2026, according to monitoring findings reported on 1 October 2026, bringing the cumulative loss since 2021 to 19.4%.
The Guardian’s account of the annual assessment links the losses to intense summer heat following a winter with limited snowfall. The findings come from the Swiss Glacier Monitoring Network, known as GLAMOS, and the Swiss Commission for Cryosphere Observation.
The latest decline was just below the record loss in 2022. Researchers reported reductions in glacier thickness ranging from 2.5 metres to 4 metres, illustrating how rapidly the remaining ice is shrinking.
Matthias Huss, a glaciologist at ETH Zürich who led the report, told the Guardian that meltwater flowing beneath glaciers can hollow out cavities and cause the ice above them to collapse. This adds to the retreat visible at the surface.
Researchers had not yet completed a count of the small glaciers lost entirely during the year. The nearly one-fifth decline refers to ice volume, rather than the number of glaciers.
