Swiss glaciers rapidly lose protective snow in European heatwave

Snow on Swiss glaciers disappeared weeks earlier than ‌usual this summer under the glare of a European heatwave, pitching the Alps into another year of heavy ice loss, scientists say.

Researchers say that on June 29, the ​Rhone Glacier in southern Switzerland reached so-called "Glacier Loss Day" — the ​moment when snow accumulated over winter has melted away and ⁠glaciers begin shedding the ice below, Reuters reported.

Matthias Huss, director of Glacier Monitoring Switzerland, ​said three months still remained this year for ice to melt that ​has taken decades or even centuries to build up.

"This is really a worrying situation," he said.

This year, two heatwaves that followed low winter ​snowfall helped accelerate "Glacier Loss Day" to its second-earliest date on record. In ​2022, it occurred three days earlier.

During June's heatwave, the melting water from glaciers across ‌Switzerland ⁠could have filled an Olympic-sized swimming pool every six seconds for two weeks, Huss said.

"The glaciers are in a very bad state at this time of the year," Huss said. "We are almost as critical as in ​the record-breaking year 2022."

Huss ​said one ⁠monitoring site at the Rhone Glacier recorded a loss of about 1.5 metres (5 feet) of ice during two weeks ​of extreme heat.