VIENNA — All but two of Austria’s 96 glaciers have retreated over the past two years, the Austrian Alpine Club reported Friday, confirming the accelerating impact of climate change on the Alps.
The Alpeiner Ferner in the western Tyrol region and Stubacher Sonnblickkees in Salzburg each retreated more than 100 meters, according to the club’s latest measurements covering 2024 and 2025. The average retreat was more than 20 meters.
“The disintegration of the glacier tongue is also progressing at the Pasterze, Austria’s largest glacier, making the consequences of climate change visible,” the club said in its report.
The findings, the club added, “confirm once again the long-term trend: Glaciers in Austria continue to shrink significantly in length, area, and volume.”
The retreat of glaciers in Europe has vast implications for drinking water, power generation, agriculture, infrastructure, recreational activities, and the Alpine landscape, the club noted. Neighboring Switzerland has reported a similar retreat in its glaciers in recent years, a trend observed globally.
Poor weather conditions including low snowfall and warm temperatures — with June last year nearly 5 degrees Celsius above average — contributed to the loss, the club said.
“The glaciers are melting — and with every new report, the urgency grows,” said Nicole Slupetzky, the club’s vice president. “It’s no longer a question of whether we can still save the glaciers in their old form; it’s about mitigating the consequences for ourselves.”
While the current figure was lower than during the previous two years, it still ranks as the eighth-largest retreat in the 135 years of measurements.