Switzerland’s glaciers have shrunk by more than 10 percent in just two years, according to new data, marking a significant acceleration in ice loss due to climate change.
Experts at the Swiss Academy of Sciences reported on Tuesday that the country’s glaciers lost an additional 2.5 percent of their volume this summer.
Despite an “extremely favorable” winter with 30 percent more snowfall than usual, the glaciers could not escape the impact of soaring summer temperatures.
By August, the area experienced its greatest ice loss on record.
“The retreat of the glacier tongues and their disintegration continue unabated as a result of climate change,” the academy said in its report.
Tourists watch the Rhone Glacier and its glacial lake due to the melting of the glacier, above Gletsch, on September 30. A snowy winter provided no respite for Switzerland’s glaciers, which shed 2.5 percent of their volume over the past year, with sand blown in from the Sahara Desert accelerating the summer melt.
FABRICE COFFRINI/AFP via Getty Images
Home to more glaciers than any other country in Europe, Switzerland recently redrew its border with Italy due to melting glaciers in the Alps, specifically around the Matterhorn mountain.
As the glaciers retreat, the natural ridgelines that previously served as the border between the two countries have shifted, leading to a redefinition of their boundaries.
Several sets of human remains have been discovered through peeling back melted layers of ice, including the body of a German climber who had been missing since 1986.
Chunks of ice float in a lake in front of Rhone Glacier near Goms, Switzerland, on June 15, 2023. The Italy-Switzerland border has been redrawn due to the retreating glaciers in the Alps, specifically around the Matterhorn mountain. Some glaciers, like Plaine Morte and Gries, saw melt rates of more than a meter this summer.
AP Photo/Matthias Schrader, File
Experts at GLAMOS (Glacier Monitoring in Switzerland) described the situation as critical, with more than half of the glaciers they monitor losing all their snow cover during the summer months.
Three major factors contributed to this year’s severe ice loss: record-high summer temperatures in July and August, a lack of fresh snow, and the heat-absorbing effects of Saharan dust blown onto the glaciers during the winter and spring.
The reddish-yellow dust, carried by southwesterly winds, settled on the ice, speeding up the melting process.
Some of the most dramatic glacier melt was recorded at Plaine Morte and Gries in southern Switzerland, and Silvretta in the east. These glaciers saw melt rates of more than a meter during the summer, according to GLAMOS.
This loss of ice threatens not only the glaciers but local water supplies, tourism and ecosystems dependent on the glaciers.
While 2023 brought some relief with increased snowfall in the winter, it wasn’t enough to offset the relentless heat of the summer.
“August saw the greatest loss of ice recorded since measurements began,” the Swiss Academy of Sciences said.
In the broader context, Switzerland’s glacier retreat is part of a larger pattern of global glacier melt, which scientists link directly to rising greenhouse gas emissions and global warming.
Over the last 85 years, Swiss glaciers have lost nearly half of their volume, raising concerns about long-term water shortages and environmental impact throughout the region.
Matthias Huss, head of GLAMOS, spoke last year on what the pattern means for Switzerland’s future.
“Glaciers are the ambassadors of climate change,” he said. “They make it very clear what is happening out there because they respond in a very sensitive way to warming temperatures.
“Once again […] there is big urgency to act now if you want to stabilize climate, and if you want to save at least some of the glaciers.”
This article includes reporting from The Associated Press.
