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last mo.

Austrian Alpine Club: 94 of 96 Glaciers Retreated in Two Years

Low snowfall with an exceptionally warm June drove one of the largest losses in 135 years.

FILE - The Sulzenauferner Glacier is visible near Innsbruck, Austria, on Sept. 25, 2023. (AP Photo/Matthias Schrader, File)
FILE - The Gaisskarferner Glacier is visible near Innsbruck, Austria, Monday, Sept. 25, 2023. (AP Photo/Matthias Schrader, file)

Overview

  • Alpeiner Ferner in Tyrol and Stubacher Sonnblickkees in Salzburg each shrank by more than 100 meters, the steepest retreats in the survey.
  • The national average shortening exceeded 20 meters across the 2024–2025 measurement period.
  • Austria’s largest glacier, the Pasterze, is seeing ongoing disintegration of its tongue, a stark, visible change.
  • The club reports the latest two-year loss is smaller than the previous period yet still ranks eighth-largest in the 135-year record.
  • Monitors warn of impacts on drinking water, hydropower, agriculture, infrastructure and recreation, with similar declines reported in Switzerland and a call for policymakers and the public to act.