The Swiss voice in the world since 1935
Top stories
Stay in touch with Switzerland

Dramatic loss of Swiss glaciers continues

Great Aletsch Glacier
In September the lowest depth of snow was measured on the Great Aletsch Glacier since measurements began 100 years ago Keystone

The volume of Swiss glaciers continued to decline significantly this summer, drastically changing the image of the Alps. At low altitudes, last winter saw less snow than ever before.

In the past decade glacier melt has been strongest since observations began, the Cryospheric Commission of the Swiss Academy of Sciences reported on Friday. This loss will continue in 2020 but it will not be equally dramatic throughout the country.

At the beginning of May the snow on the glaciers corresponded to the average of the past ten years, the commission said.

“However, snow on glacier tongues became depleted early, and the melt reached very high values. In September 2020, the lowest depth of snow was measured on the Great Aletsch Glacier close to the Jungfraujoch since measurements began 100 years ago,” it said.

More
photo map of how glacier has retreated

More

Dramatic photos show glacial retreat

This content was published on A Swiss photographer programmed a drone using glacial data and set it on a course to map out how glaciers have retreated over the past 140 years.

Read more: Dramatic photos show glacial retreat

The situation of most glaciers was not as serious as the period from 2017 to 2019. “Nevertheless, almost 2% of the total glacier volume has been lost throughout Switzerland over the past 12 months.”

Measurements of winter snowfall and melt on more than 20 glaciers in all parts of the country showed significant differences in losses.

While low-lying, flat glaciers recorded an average reduction of two metres in ice thickness, glaciers at high altitudes in the southern Valais as well as in Ticino and Engadine lost only about 50 centimetres in thickness. This is due to a lot of snow in early winter and snowfall in summer, according to the scientists.

Changing landscape

The commission said that since 1960 the amount of water lost by Swiss glaciers could have filled Lake Constance. This has significantly changed the landscape of the Alps.

“Glacier forelands are growing, and new mountain lakes are being created. Individual small glaciers had to be removed from the monitoring network due to their disintegration,” it explained.

“The retreat of the glacier also creates dangers, as impressively illustrated by the ice break-off at the Turtmann Glacier in Valais and the emptying of the glacial lake on Plaine Morte, canton Bern.”


Popular Stories

Most Discussed

News

Porrentruy swimming pool: the town's mayor was not expecting such controversy

More

Porrentruy mayor comments on Swiss pool ban controversy

This content was published on The mayor of the Swiss town of Porrentruy, which has been in the headlines in neighbouring France after restricting access to a pool to locals after a spate of anti-social behaviour, says he has received much support in recent days.

Read more: Porrentruy mayor comments on Swiss pool ban controversy
Trained on the “Alps” supercomputer at the Swiss National Supercomputing Centre (CSCS) in Lugano, the new LLM marks a milestone in open-source AI and multilingual excellence, according to its developers.

More

Swiss universities to release multilingual AI programme

This content was published on This summer researchers at Swiss universities will make available a large language model (LLM), an AI programme trained on vast amounts of data, developed on public infrastructure.

Read more: Swiss universities to release multilingual AI programme
Zurich cantonal police introduce fixed online police stations

More

Zurich introduces online police station

This content was published on After a one-year test phase, Zurich's cantonal police are introducing an online police station. Demand is high and the response from the public has been positive.

Read more: Zurich introduces online police station
St. Moritz registers the summer as a brand

More

St Moritz registers ‘summer’ as trademark

This content was published on The chic resort of St Moritz in southeastern Switzerland has registered "summer" as a trademark under the name "St Summer". The resort in canton Graubünden is launching a campaign to strengthen its summer business.

Read more: St Moritz registers ‘summer’ as trademark
House prices rose sharply in June

More

Swiss house prices rose sharply in June

This content was published on The prices of homes and apartments in Switzerland rose again in June. In the Lake Geneva region, prices of detached houses rose sharply. Meanwhile, in Zurich and its surrounding region the opposite trend was observed.

Read more: Swiss house prices rose sharply in June
Heavy crowds expected at Swiss airports

More

Crowded airports expected in Switzerland this summer

This content was published on Switzerland's main airports are preparing for a busy summer holiday period. A number of changes have been introduced to improve passenger flows that are expected to be well above average in July and August.

Read more: Crowded airports expected in Switzerland this summer

In compliance with the JTI standards

More: SWI swissinfo.ch certified by the Journalism Trust Initiative

You can find an overview of ongoing debates with our journalists here . Please join us!

If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.

SWI swissinfo.ch - a branch of Swiss Broadcasting Corporation SRG SSR

SWI swissinfo.ch - a branch of Swiss Broadcasting Corporation SRG SSR