Matthias Huss

Great Aletsch #Glacier - what a beauty 😍
Melting at the glacier terminus is incredible though this year as reported by measurements by @pronaturabl.bsky.social
Already over 7️⃣ meters of ice loss since Oct 2024, with considerable melt also in winter.

The cooling of the last two days and some fresh snow above 2500 masl only is a short and intermittent relief.

This is the collapsing terminus of Rhone #glacier yesterday - retreating out of its proglacial lake. Impressive changes going on during the heat wave!
We measured almost 3 meters of ice melting over the last 4 weeks... This is 10 cm of ice layer removed every single day!!

A 26-day period of exceptionally high temperatures will end tomorrow, 4 degrees above normal.
Swiss #glaciers have lost an enormous amount of water during this time: it is equivalent to 🇨🇭's total annual drinking water use, and more than twice the average of the last years...

Results are based on intermediate observations on 12 Swiss glaciers acquired in the frame of GLAMOS combined with modelling.
Little winter snow and the 2nd warmest June have led to this situation.
Final results on glacier loss 2025 to be published on 1 Oct
@vaw-glaciology.bsky.social

The #Glacier Loss Day is reached in Switzerland!
From now on all melt that occurs on glaciers until October is unsustainable. This tipping point has only been reached so early in the record-shattering year 2022.
Expect big ice loss due to the prolonged melt season and feedback effects

Some cooling within the #glacier ice - this is what is urgently needed these days...
On Jungfraujoch, there has been no warmer June since at least 90 years than in 2025! @meteoschweiz.ch
Glaciers are in a deplorable state - as if they even need more attention in their UN International Year...

🚨 New paper alert! Glaciers in Western Canada, Switzerland & the conterminous US lost twice as much ice from 2021–2024 compared to the previous decade. Heatwaves + dust & wildfire impurities drove extreme melt.
Co-authored by #VAW member @matthias-huss.bsky.social ❄️🌍

The Glacier Loss Day occurred by mid-August in 2010-2020, and should be in October to permit a balance with climate. Heavy times!
Glaciers throughout Switzerland are equally affected. Little winter snow, early heat.
Based on #GLAMOS @vaw-glaciology.bsky.social measurements combined with modelling

In about 4 days from now, we are going to hit the #Glacier Loss Day in Switzerland! All melting from this point onwards till next winter is unsustainable, i.e. is long-term mass loss.
This is extremely early in the season! And just a bit behind the record-shattering year 2022...

Snow situation on Konkordiaplatz, Great Aletsch #Glacier, by 29 June 2019-2025.
Exchanging white snow with dark bare ice. This is really bad! And there's still up to 100 days to go in the melt season. Will we reach the all-time record of 2022?
I hope not...!
@jungfraualetsch.bsky.social

One month ago, Birchgletscher collapsed and erased the village of Blatten. A disastrous event that will keep Switzerland busy for a long while...
swisstopo images 👇 show the #glacier front began to advance in 2020, indicating a growing instability - a precursor of the event

More than 300m. But this is higher up where melt rates are yet less extreme

Hunting the extreme year 2022...
Yes, I'm really worried about the current state of Swiss #glaciers! After a dry winter, the scorching heat of the last weeks pushes glaciers towards another black year.
Hoping for some cooling but the summer has only just started
@vaw-glaciology.bsky.social

The tongue of Rhone #Glacier ten days after my last visit. Can you guess how much ice melted away? 1️⃣ meter in terms of thickness! 1️⃣0️⃣ days... And that's just the beginning of the summer season.
We know the times are bad for the ice, but still it is hard to accept these numbers!

The beauty of a #glacier at sunrise descending down into the valley.

You may not realise that this view is dramatic, and not just gorgeous: Glacier retreat is immense, and there's very little snow this June...

Pic taken from Piz Languard on 22 June 2025

Konkordiaplatz on Great Aletschgletscher is now snow-free... A bit later than 2022 but earlier than 2023 (year with second-most highest ice loss).
It hurts to see #glaciers entering a summer with massive ice losses again! And no cooling is in sight
@vaw-glaciology.bsky.social

The last snow on the tongue of Griesgletscher at sunrise.
Beautiful, but bad news for the #glacier... The present heat has massively reduced the already limited amount of winter snow, the natural protection of the ice is soon lost.

Let's better visualise the suffering of Swiss #glaciers with an image: Rhone glacier yesterday for first summer measurements and a conversation with @apnews.com The glacier is now far back in the valley, the lake expanding while the ice coverage in the foreground looks ridiculous...

11 June, start into the first heat wave of the summer. And it's definitely not looking good for Swiss #glaciers!
Little winter snow, and now the heat is here. 2-4 weeks earlier melt out than usual. Oh no, where are you heading to, 2025?
@vaw-glaciology.bsky.social

11 June, start into the first heat wave of the summer. And it's definitely not looking good for Swiss #glaciers!
Little winter snow, and now the heat is here. 2-4 weeks earlier melt out than usual. Oh no, where are you heading to, 2025?
@vaw-glaciology.bsky.social

Funny scene at our real-time station on Findel #Glacier today: the strong melting has mobilized the little remaining snow on the ice surface into a slush flow that has temporarily buried the camera 😅
The first summer heat 🌊 is here, poor glaciers...
@vaw-glaciology.bsky.social

We’ve updated the #Birchgletscher factsheet – the 🇨🇭#glacier that collapsed on 28 May. It took just ~40s for the ice-rock avalanche to hit the valley equalling an average speed of ~200 km/h. New data on volumes & timing now included: polybox.ethz.ch/index.php/s/... #Blatten ❤️

[1/2] We’ve released a new version of the factsheet on #Birchgletscher -- the Swiss glacier that catastrophically collapsed on 28 May 2025 following heavy debris loading from Kleines Nesthorn -- and some first field impressions that we were able to collect yesterday
🗂 polybox.ethz.ch/index.php/s/...

Every +0.1°C of global warming leads to ~2% more glacier ice loss. Sticking to the #ParisAgreement (+1.5°C) would preserve over half the ice compared to current policies (+2.7°C). This is the result of a new study based, led by Harry Zekollari, Lilian Schuster & several co-authors from our group.

Yesterday's devastating #glacier collapse erasing the Swiss village of Blatten still leaves me speechless...
The high mountain areas are adapting to ever increasing temperatures. It's time to wake up! When, if not now?
This is not far away but right here...
pic: Pomona/A. Amherd

88028-VAW-2025-05_Birchgletscher_Factsheet_20250529_layouted.pdf polybox - Use it as a logical memory stick, store your data on the ETH campus!

Here is a factsheet on what is currently known about Birchgletscher, the Swiss glacier that catastrophically collapsed on 28 May 2025, following heavy debris loading from Kleines Nesthorn.
Our thoughts are with all those most deeply affected.
polybox.ethz.ch/index.php/s/...

🚨Not all glacier meltwater makes it to the ocean 🌊 New paper co-authored by VAW Matthias Huss shows ~95% of future glacier runoff will flow to the sea via rivers, while 5% is lost to evaporation or stored on land. High Mountain Asia hold most of what doesn't reach the ocean.
doi.org/10.1029/2025...

Snow depth on glaciers is still moderately to strongly below average in all regions of Switzerland. The Northeast is most critical.
Data based on GLAMOS / @vaw-glaciology.bsky.social data combined with modelling

Summer starting on Swiss #glaciers!
Most likely today, the maximal snow accumulation is reached and we're entering the phase of loss.
The state of glaciers still lingers below the average although May was rather cool. Summer heat waves will decide about the outcome of 2025.