Swiss Glaciers Reach Annual Melt Point Three Months Early

All snow and ice accumulated on Swiss glaciers over the past winter is expected to have melted by Monday, Glacier Monitoring in Switzerland reported. The organization said the date marks the annual tipping point known as glacier loss day. The tipping point normally arrives in mid-August.

Officials attributed the early date to a heatwave across Europe and 25 percent less snowfall than the 2010-2020 average.

Background on glacier retreat Swiss glaciers have been retreating for about 170 years. The pace of loss remained modest until recent decades, when rising temperatures and reduced winter snowfall accelerated the process. Once the white snow cover disappears, darker glacier ice is exposed and absorbs more heat, speeding further melt.

Every additional day of melting between now and October will reduce glacier size.

Temperature records and health effects Parts of Europe recorded temperatures above 40 degrees Celsius this week. Hospitals and emergency services reported increased demand, and several deaths were linked to the heat. Matthias Huss of Glacier Monitoring in Switzerland said that if warming continues at recent rates, only small remnants of ice will remain by 2100.