More than 1000 small glaciers in Switzerland have melted due to global warming amid exacerbating effects of climate change.
In 2025 alone, the glaciers have melted at an enormous rate resulting in a 3 per cent drop in the total volume. Since 2015, the ice mass in Switzerland has shrunk by a quarter.
The country has more glaciers than any other European country, nearly 14,000 and the increasing pace of melting has raised alarm across the continent. The phenomenon can have serious implications on tourism, water resources, farming and hydropower in many countries.
According to the Swiss Academy of Sciences, “A winter with low snow depth combined with heat waves in June and August led to a loss of 3 per cent of the glacier volume.”
Matthias Huss, head of the Swiss glacier monitoring group GLAMOS, said, “The anthropogenic global warming being caused by human activity is causing glaciers to retreat,” adding, “The main cause behind the increase in ice-melting rate is human-induced global warming.”
The 2025 shrinking of Switzerland’s ice mass is the fourth largest in its history after the ones that occurred in 2003, 2022 and 2023.
Switzerland has recorded one of the hottest summers this season with June being the second-warmest June on record.