Swiss glaciers suffer 'disastrous' year of ice loss, threatening water supplies — SkimNews
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- Glacier Monitoring Switzerland reported an estimated 5.5% of the country's remaining glacier ice vanished in the past 12 months, versus the roughly 2% annual loss that was recently considered "extreme".
- Dr Matthias Huss of Glacier Monitoring Switzerland called the losses "really just disastrous" and warned that meltwater running off during heatwaves is "old water stocked in the glacier ice centuries or decades ago" that will not be available next time.
- Swiss glaciers released 2.2 trillion litres of meltwater between July and September, which eased short-term water shortages but rapidly diminished the frozen reserve.
- Even at 3,500 metres above sea level, researchers found no snow remaining at the end of summer, with four metres of ice loss at the highest measurement points where glaciers should still be snow-covered.
- The River Rhine reached record lows in places this summer, affecting transport navigation routes and raising costs.
- Dr Fabien Maussion, a glaciologist at the University of Bristol, said: "Ten years ago, I wouldn't have thought that it's possible to lose glaciers so quickly."
- Some glaciers such as Plattalva in eastern Switzerland have already disappeared, though researchers say sharp cuts to carbon emissions could still preserve much of the world's glacier ice, especially in the Himalayas and polar regions.
Why it matters: Swiss farmers, hydropower operators, and Rhine shipping — all named in the source — depend on glacier meltwater as a buffer against summer drought. The 2.2 trillion litres that staved off shortages this year came from centuries-old ice reserves that smaller glaciers can no longer recharge, meaning each future heatwave will arrive with a diminished supply.
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