Swiss glaciers have lost around 10 % of their volume in the last two years , as much as in the period 1960-1990 , due to climate change , indicates a study published this Thursday.

The lack of snow in winter and the extreme temperatures recorded in summer dealt a severe blow to these important ice masses , warned the group of experts that studies the cryosphere (frozen areas of the planet) at the Swiss Academy of Natural Sciences.

Glacier melting accelerates

Their conclusions leave no room for doubt: “Swiss glaciers are melting faster and faster .”

The melting was 6% in 2022 and was around 4% in 2023, the two years with the greatest volume losses since the beginning of these records, the report states.

“It is a combination of the very bad succession of meteorological extremes and climate change” that makes these extremes more likely, explains Matthias Huss, who heads the Swiss glacier monitoring network (Glamos).

“If we continue the pace of recent years (…) each year there will be a bad year,” he emphasizes.

“We have seen such strong changes in the climate in recent years that it is totally possible to imagine this country without glaciers ,” acknowledges the scientist.

Huss emphasizes that decisive action to “stabilize the climate” that involves reaching zero C02 emissions could make it possible to conserve “a third of the ice formed in Switzerland.”