Swiss Glaciers Shrink 25%; Scientists Blame Warming

Swiss glaciers lost about 3% of their volume in 2025 — the fourth-largest annual retreat on record — bringing total ice mass down roughly 25% since 2015, the GLAMOS network and the Swiss Academy of Sciences reported. A low-snow winter followed by intense heatwaves in June (the second-warmest on record) and August pushed the zero-degree line above 5,000 m at times, depleting protective snow and triggering earlier, faster melt; scientists say anthropogenic warming is the main cause. GLAMOS extrapolated measurements from reference sites across roughly 1,400 glaciers and recorded notable thinning at glaciers including Plaine Morte, Silvretta and parts of the Aletsch, while more than 1,000 small Swiss glaciers have already disappeared. The rapid loss has raised concerns for hydropower, tourism, agriculture and downstream water supplies and is increasing mountain destabilization and hazards such as rock-ice collapses and avalanches. GLAMOS warns the rate of loss has accelerated in recent years and that, without deep global emissions cuts, most Swiss glacier ice could be all but gone by century’s end, though rapid CO2 reductions could preserve a portion of the ice. Swiss researchers, including teams at the University of Bern analyzing million-year-old Antarctic ice, are studying past climate shifts to improve future projections and inform policy.