Switzerland has lost nearly 20% of its glaciers over the past five years
Kyiv • UNN
In the first eight months of 2026, Switzerland’s glaciers lost 5.5% of their ice. Since 2021, the total loss has reached 19.4%.
Swiss glaciers melted by 5.5% in the first eight months of 2026, while the total ice loss since 2021 has already reached 19.4%. The Guardian reports, according to UNN.
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Europe’s Alpine regions are experiencing the extreme destruction of glaciers due to the impact of heat-trapping fossil-fuel pollution. Switzerland has lost almost a fifth of its ice in just five years, a study has shown, resulting in a dramatic transformation of the Alpine country, whose vast white glaciers have turned into moon-like rocky deserts, scientists say.
According to the annual glacier monitoring report, the rapid melting of glaciers in 2026 was caused by a summer of high temperatures that followed a low-snow winter, and the figure fell just short of the 2022 record.
ETH Zurich glaciologist Matthias Huss noted that many people do not realize how quickly glaciers are changing. According to him, just one more generation ago, some areas that now look empty could have been covered by hundreds of metres of ice.
I visited one place last week, and it is so astonishing to stand in this lunar landscape, where just a few years ago there was a large layer of ice — an extensive glacier. And now it is a rocky desert, where chunks of old ice still lie, melting on the hot rocks
According to the publication, the report was prepared by the Swiss Glacier Monitoring Network and the Swiss Cryosphere Observation Commission. Researchers found that in 2026, the average thickness of individual glaciers decreased by 2.5–4 metres.