Swiss glaciers lose over 5 per cent of ice volume in 2026

Glaciers in Switzerland lost 5.5 percent of their ice volume this year, marking the second-largest percentage decline on record due to heatwaves and low winter snowfall, according to the Associated Press.

The GLAMOS Swiss glacier monitoring service and Swiss Academy of Sciences warned in a statement on Thursday that Alpine glaciers have no chance of surviving in the long term under such conditions.

Experts said glacier melt has accelerated in recent years, with the volume of ice in Switzerland declining by nearly a fifth over the past five years alone.

The decline comes amid growing concerns over the impact of rising temperatures in Europe, the world's fastest-warming continent.

Matthias Huss, head of GLAMOS, said the warming currently being experienced can be attributed entirely to human-induced climate change, adding that without human emissions or fossil fuels there would be no warming at present.

WAM