Alpine glaciers lose 39 percent of area since 2000, experts warn

Alpine glaciers are rapidly losing ice, with their area shrinking by 39 percent since the year 2000. Italian experts are sounding the alarm over a dramatic situation, observing changes they have not witnessed in decades of research.

"Glaciers appear still and immobile," said Vanda Bonardo, the Alps representative for the Italian environmental protection association Legambiente. Legambiente monitors key Alpine glaciers each summer. They regularly observe meltwater flowing where ice existed only recently, while increasingly large crevasses make many paths dangerous, Bonardo warned, according to media reports.

Globally, the World Glacier Monitoring Service reports an average annual ice loss of 273 billion tons since 2000, a figure that reached 408 billion tons in 2025. Legambiente anticipates that all Alpine glaciers below 3,500 meters could vanish by 2050. The situation is particularly dire at the Forni Glacier near Bormio in the Lombardy region, which glaciologist Claudio Smiraglia has observed for 65 years.

"I have never experienced a season like this in my entire career," Smiraglia stated. The glacier has fragmented into several parts and taken on a gray-black hue. Ski tourism is also feeling the effects, with summer skiing facilities at the Stilfser Joch closed due to a lack of snow. Summer ski operations at the Matterhorn were also previously halted. The unusual warmth at high altitudes is notable, with the zero-degree Celsius line frequently situated between 4,000 and 5,000 meters during the summer, causing even the snow cover that protects glaciers from summer heat to melt.