Switzerland’s Largest Glacier Had Its Worst Melt on Record in 2026
by Jerome London · Thought CatalogUpdated 3 minutes ago, October 1, 2026
The Aletsch Glacier, Switzerland’s largest, lost more ice in 2026 than in any year on record for that glacier. Across the country, glaciers lost more than 5% of their ice after a winter with too little snow and a summer of record heat.
The Swiss Glacier Monitoring Network and the Swiss Commission for Cryosphere Observation reported the findings on October 1. Switzerland’s glaciers have lost almost a fifth of their ice over the past 5 years, though the country’s overall loss rate in 2026 remained below the record set in 2022. That year, dust from North Africa settled on the snow and sped up melting.
At Glacier de Tsanfleuron, average ice thickness fell by more than 4 meters, or 13 feet. Scientists estimate that Swiss glaciers released about 2.2 trillion liters of water from July through September, more than 4 times what Swiss households drink in a year.
That runoff can help ease summer water shortages, but Matthias Huss, director of the Swiss Glacier Monitoring Network, says the benefit is shrinking as glaciers get smaller. The continuing loss also puts future water supplies at risk.
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