his doctoral thesis is how a lack of snow cover affects temperatures inside the glacier. The purpose of his findings is to help safeguard against the impact of natural events. The Blatten disaster in 2025 showed just how devastating the consequences of collapsing glaciers can be for villages below (see pages 16 and 17 as well as “Swiss Review” 4/2025). As soon as all the readings are complete, Beer takes out a power drill from his rucksack. The aluminium poles need to be pushed four metres deep into the glacier again, so he needs to drill new holes into the ice. Beer aborts his first drilling attempt after reaching a depth of one metre – too much water is pushing up from underneath. “This has never happened to me before,” the researcher says. After trying at a couple of other spots, he finally completes the job. His work on the Scex Rouge is finished for this year. Beer spends the following days in Valais, taking more readings. The glaciologist emails us a week later, telling us that the ice was melting intensely wherever he went. “Some poles were protruding over three metres above the ice. We were able to take readings just in time. The ice around other poles had melted completely. These readings were lost.” He also noticed how much exposed ice was visible at Natural reservoirs in danger The disappearance of glacier ice has major implications for water security. “There is a reason why the Alps are known as the water tower of Europe,” says glaciologist Matthias Huss. Major rivers like the Rhine, Rhône and Po begin there, fed in part by snowmelt and glacial melt. “The glaciers are like natural reservoirs; they help to keep water flowing, particularly when it is hot and dry.” People in Alpine valleys have taken advantage of glaciers for centuries, building channels to funnel meltwater towards their dry pastures and fields. Some of these ancient irrigation canals are still in use in Valais, where they are referred to as “bisses” in French and “Suonen” in German. Hydropower generation is also likely to be affected in the long term as glaciers shrink, Huss says. Melting glaciers are currently helping to replenish reservoirs. “But the effect will diminish once these natural reservoirs have been drained.” (TP) altitudes over 4,000 metres. “Those parts used to be covered in snow all year round.” One extreme year after another All data on glacier volumes is fed to the Glacier Monitoring in Switzerland network, known as GLAMOS, which monitors 176 glaciers. Every September, at the end of the hydrological year, GLAMOS publishes overall readings from a number of key glaciers. These were not yet available at the time of our editorial deadline. But 2026 already looked like an extreme year based on early readings in July, says GLAMOS director Matthias Huss. “Switzerland’s glaciers are in a very, very poor state,” the 46-year-old glaciologist confirms in a video call. Glaciers have been retreating continually since 1990, but the melting had again accelerated considerably in recent years, he said. The real tipping point was 2022, when records tumbled. “It has been one extreme year after another since then.” Apart from the hot temperatures, this year’s massive glacial melt is down to a lack of winter snow. “If there is enough snowfall in winter, this can protect the ice well into summer.” However, melted areas of glacier expose darker surfaces that absorb the sunlight and warm up. “This turbocharges the melting process.” Sahara dust blowing into the Alps accentuates this effect. Yet not even snowy winters are enough to stop the decline. Take 2024, for example, when Huss measured up to five metres of new snow covering the glaciers 3,000 metres The researchers pull the drill rod from a freshly drilled hole. They will then re-insert the pole (lying on the ice to the right) four metres deep into the glacier. Photo: Marco Zanoni Glaciologist Janosch Beer downloads temperature data onto his laptop. The cable is connected to sensors that he inserted deep into the ice a few years ago. Photo: Marco Zanoni Swiss Review / October 2026 / No. 4 6 Focus
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