Swiss glaciers lost 5.5% of their ice in 2026.

Swiss glaciers lost 5.5% of their ice in 2026. They lost more ice in one year only once before. The melting gave people more water during a hot summer, but this means there will be less ice later.

A glacier is a very large amount of ice in the mountains. The glaciers had less snow than normal after a warm winter. Hot days in May and June melted much of the snow. White snow sends more sunlight back into the sky. Dark ice gets more heat from sunlight, so it melts faster. The air is getting warmer, and this makes more ice melt.

From July to September, the melting gave about 2.2 trillion litres of water. This water helped when there was not enough water. It can water farms, help make electricity and help boats carry things on rivers. Matthias Huss runs GLAMOS, a group that checks how Swiss glaciers change. He said, “It’s helping us, but it cannot go on forever.” This means the glaciers cannot give this much water forever.

Scientists say people can still save much of the world’s glacier ice by making much less gas that warms the air. This matters because glaciers help give water during hot, dry times.