Swiss glaciers lost 5.5% of their ice volume in the first eight months of 2026, and research finds total glacier ice loss since 2021 at 19.4%, the Swiss Glacier Monitoring Network and the Swiss Commission for Cryosphere Observation reported. GLAMOS lead author Matthias Huss said many now-barren sites were covered by hundreds of metres of ice a generation ago and scientists have already witnessed the death of several small glaciers this year. The report found mean glacier thickness fell by between 2.5 metres and 4 metres in 2026 and documented internal melting where subglacial streams excavate caverns that cause glaciers to collapse from the inside. MeteoSwiss analysis found the April to September 2026 half-year was the hottest and driest since records began in 1864; in that period the report notes humanity has emitted 1.8 trillion tonnes of carbon dioxide and warmed the planet about 1.4C. Scientists said the 2026 ice loss narrowly missed the record set in 2022, a difference they attribute in part to lower deposits of Saharan dust and slightly greater winter snow cover. Glaciologists described the current pattern as an explosion of melt rates reshaping Alpine landscapes into rock deserts where scattered blocks of old ice remain and continue to melt. The monitoring teams have not completed a formal tally of glaciers lost in 2026 but said field visits confirm rapid disintegration across many sites.
