Swiss Glaciers See Fourth-Largest Ice Loss Ever

(MENAFN) Switzerland’s glaciers experienced another year of dramatic retreat in 2025, with a 3% decrease in ice volume, marking the fourth most severe loss since monitoring began, according to a statement issued Wednesday by the Swiss Glacial Measurement Network (GLAMOS) and the Swiss Commission for Cryosphere Observation, part of the Swiss Academy of Natural Sciences.

The accelerated melt was driven by an unusually dry winter and extreme heat waves in both June and August. GLAMOS reported that this year’s losses bring the total ice mass reduction to 25% over the past decade—a troubling trend that persisted even during the UN International Year for the Preservation of Glaciers.

In June, temperatures nearly matched the devastating conditions of 2022. “By mid-July, the winter's snow reserve had melted,” the network stated, despite a brief period of cooler weather that followed.

Glaciers located below 3,000 meters were hardest hit, with thickness reductions exceeding two meters at several key locations, including Claridenfirn, Glacier de la Plaine Morte, and the Silvretta Glacier. In southern Valais, including the Allaling and Findel Glaciers, the losses were slightly less severe, at just under one meter.

GLAMOS also highlighted that the 2024–2025 winter brought exceptionally low snowfall, coupled with the third-warmest half-year ever recorded. The situation worsened in June, the second-warmest on record, and culminated in an August heat wave that pushed the freezing point above 5,000 meters—a rare and concerning altitude for the zero-degree threshold.

"The constantly dwindling glaciers are helping the mountains to destabilize," warned Matthias Huss, head of GLAMOS. "This can lead to events like those in the Lötschental, where a rock-ice avalanche buried the village of Blatten in May."

Despite slight weather reprieves, the data suggests an increasingly unstable Alpine environment with long-term consequences for ecosystems, water reserves, and human safety.

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