SWISS GLACIERS LOSE FIFTH OF MASS IN FIVE YEARS, SCIENTISTS SAY

Switzerland's glaciers have lost around 5% of their ice over the past year, according to scientists who described the loss as catastrophic. Researchers attributed the decline to a combination of factors: a winter that brought too little snowfall, followed by record high temperatures across Europe during the summer. Experts said on Thursday that the glaciers had lost close to 20% of their total mass over the past five years. They said 2026 now ranks as the second biggest melt year on record for the country's glaciers.

Switzerland's glaciers are considered to be disproportionately affected by climate change, according to the scientists who issued the warning. The pattern this year followed what researchers described as an "enormous" loss of ice, driven first by insufficient snow cover during the winter months and then by sustained heat during the summer heatwaves that affected much of Europe. The scientists did not specify the precise volume of ice lost, but characterised the scale of the five-year decline as significant. Their assessment was based on monitoring of glacier mass across the country.

The findings add to a series of annual assessments tracking the condition of Switzerland's glaciers amid what researchers describe as ongoing climate change. Scientists said the comparison with previous years placed 2026 among the most severe melt years measured to date, second only to one other year on record. The researchers have not indicated what, if any, policy response might follow their warning. Further monitoring of the glaciers is expected to continue in subsequent years, according to the scientists who issued the assessment.