The disappearance of glacier meltwater will only deepen future droughts, warns Swiss climatologist Erich Fischer.
Tourists watch the ice melt in front of the tongue of the Rhone Glacier in southern Switzerland on July 16, 2026.
Keystone / Jean-Christophe Bott
Today's droughts are being intensified by a warmer climate. Rising temperatures draw more moisture from the soil, making dry spells more severe than in the past, says Swiss climatologist Erich Fischer. The disappearance of glacier meltwater will only deepen future droughts.
This content was published on
August 14, 2026 - 10:00
The hot summer is taking its toll on Switzerland’s glaciers.
Swiss glaciers are set to lose an enormous amount of ice due to the heatwave battering Europe, the head of Glacier Monitoring in…
Die Gewässer profitierten bis jetzt im Sommer vom steigenden Abfluss aus den Gletschern. Doch bald versiegt auch diese Quelle.…
All snow and ice accumulated over the past winter is expected to have melted by Monday. Over the past century, this tipping point…
Accumulation on Switzerland’s glaciers from last winter expected to all be gone by Monday amid ‘enormous’ melt rates across Alps
Swiss glaciers are set to exhaust their winter reserves within days – an unusually early milestone driven not only by the current…
