Snow and ice on Swiss glaciers melting at alarming rate amid heatwave, expert says
Summary
Swiss glaciers are melting much faster than usual because of a heatwave in Europe and poor snowfall last winter. Experts say the glaciers have lost a huge amount of ice early this year, which is a sign of climate change affecting the Alps.Key Facts
- The snow and ice from last winter on Swiss glaciers are expected to disappear by early July, the second earliest on record.
- Glacier loss day usually happens in mid-August but arrived months early this year due to the heatwave.
- Glaciers in the Swiss Alps have shrunk by 38% between 2000 and 2024.
- The heatwave and less snowfall this year caused glaciers to melt faster than before.
- The Rhone Glacier lost about one meter of ice vertically in just 10 days recently.
- Dust from the Sahara Desert arriving in March added to the glaciers’ decline.
- Switzerland lost 1,200 glaciers in the last 50 years and now only about 1,300 remain.
- If warming continues, only small ice remnants may be left in the Alps by the year 2100.
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