Swiss Alps glacier volume has decreased by nearly 20% in five years.

On October 1 local time, the Swiss Academy of Sciences stated that Swiss glaciers experienced large-scale melting again in 2026, with an estimated overall volume reduction of 5.5%. In addition, over the past five years, the ice volume in the Swiss Alps has decreased by nearly 20%. Matthias Huss, director of the Swiss Glacier Monitoring Network, said that the glacier melt in 2026 was second only to 2022, the second highest on record. In some areas, the average ice thickness decreased by 2.5 meters to 4 meters, and the Rhone Glacier decreased by about 4 meters in thickness from mid-June to mid-July. At the lowest monitoring point of the Aletsch Glacier tongue, the largest glacier in the Alps, the ice thickness decreased by 13 meters.