Swiss Glaciers Loose 10% of Volume in Past Two Years

29th September 2023

Last modified on October 3rd, 2023

The statistics come in the annual report of the Swiss Glacier Monitoring Network, Glamos, who monitor 176 of Switzerland’s 1,400 glaciers.

Swiss records go back to 1960, and as far back as 1914 for some glaciers.

This summer 4% of their volume melted, last year it was 6%.

This was as much as melted between 1960 and 1990.

“It’s terrible,” said the Glamos chief.

“It was still the second most negative year since measurements started,” Matthias Huss, the head of Glamos, said to the BBC.

“It’s terrible to see that this extreme of last year is just repeating.”

“Every time I come back to these sites that I have monitored for many years, it’s different.

“The ice is smaller, thinner, more grey. It’s very sad.”

Mont Fort glacier, Verbier. Image © PlanetSKI

It comes after a warm summer and a generally poor winter for snowfall.

More than half of the glaciers in the Alps are in Switzerland.

In the Alps temperatures are rising by around twice the global average due to climate change.

In August, the Swiss weather service said the freezing level hit a new high of 5,289m

This exceeded last year’s record of 5,184m.

Aletsch glacier, Switzerland. Image © PlanetSKI

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