Switzerland on verge of losing its glaciers due to extreme heatwave in Europe

Switzerland is on the verge of losing its glaciers due to the ongoing extreme heatwave in Europe. The Swiss glaciers are bracing for heavy ice loss this summer as the protective layer of ice has melted away weeks earlier than expected.

Rhone Glacier in southern Switzerland officially reached “Glacier Loss Day” on June 29 after the protective snow accumulated over winter melted away, meaning the glacier has now started losing ice. One monitoring site at the Rhone Glacier lost over 5 feet of ice in just two weeks of June.

This marks the second incident that glaciers in Switzerland reached “Glacier Loss Day” earlier than usual. Previously, a similar but more critical phenomenon was observed in 2022.

Director of Glacier Monitoring Switzerland, Matthias Huss, warned about the implications of this natural phenomenon, describing the situation as “very worrying.”

Hass blamed June's heatwave for rapid loss of ice, stating that the rate of melting snow was so high during the month that it could have filled an Olympic size swimming pool every six seconds for 14 days straight.

Europe has been battling an extreme heatwave, with temperatures soaring up to 40C in some regions, including Spain, France, Germany, and several Central and Eastern European nations.

According to the World Meteorological Organisation, over 1,300 lives have been lost due to heatwave this year.