Switzerland’s glaciers lose ‘mind-blowing’ volume of ice in just two years

Glaciers in Switzerland are shrinking at a “mind-blowing” rate. A total of 10% of their ice volume has disappeared over a period of just two years as a combination of low snowfall and soaring temperatures cause unprecedented melting, according to figures released Thursday.

In 2023, the country’s glaciers lost 4% of their total volume, according to data from the Swiss Commission for Cryosphere Observation of the Swiss Academy of Sciences. This level melting is second only to the record set in 2022, when 6% of glaciers were destroyed.

To put this into perspective, Swiss glaciers have lost as much ice over this two–year period as was lost over the three decades between 1960 and 1990.

Glaciologists climb over the collapsed tongue of the Findel Glacier (Valais). The radiantly blue glacial lakes were still covered by dozens of metres of ice a decade ago.