Austria Losses a Third of Glacier Area in 20 Years
6th October 2026
95 glaciers have disappeared completely, highlighting accelerating glacier shrinkage that could eventually leave some mountain ranges without glacial ice. NEW
The latest figures come from a study conducted by researchers from the Austrian Academy of Sciences and the universities of Innsbruck, Salzburg and Graz.
It documents the scale of the losses after mapping Austria’s glaciers using high-resolution imagery.
The lead author of the study and a researcher at the Institute for Interdisciplinary Mountain Research at the Austrian Academy of Sciences, Lea Hartl, said the losses in recent years had been extreme.
Andreas Kellerer-Pirklbauer, co-head of the Glacier Measurement Service of the Austrian Alpine Club (ÖAV), reported unprecedented ice losses at high elevations following the heat of the past summer.
He earlier said, “Many glaciers are not only shrinking in length but are increasingly entering a phase of structural disintegration.
“Exposed rock ledges, sections of ice breaking away and glacier tongues collapsing in on themselves are increasingly shaping the landscape.”
In one example measurements at Pasterze glacier in Carinthia showed ice losses ranging from around 4m at an altitude of 3,000m to 10m at 2,500m.
A recent report form the Austrian Alpine Club said it was very likely that the glacier tongue would break off in the coming years, splitting the glacier in two.
Earlier this month on PlanetSKI we reported on the situation in neighbouring Switzerland.
Skiing is now underway on a handful of glacier ski areas in Austria.
Pitztal, Austria. Image c/o Pitztal
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