{"id":115376,"date":"2026-08-14T08:42:16","date_gmt":"2026-08-14T08:42:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/115376\/"},"modified":"2026-08-14T08:42:16","modified_gmt":"2026-08-14T08:42:16","slug":"we-will-miss-glacier-meltwater-warns-swiss-scientist","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/115376\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018We will miss glacier meltwater,\u2019 warns Swiss scientist"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Tourists<\/p>\n

Tourists watch the ice melt in front of the tongue of the Rhone Glacier in southern Switzerland on July 16, 2026. <\/p>\n

Keystone \/ Jean-Christophe Bott <\/p>\n

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.\n<\/p>\n

This content was published on <\/p>\n

August 14, 2026 – 10:00\n<\/p>\n

Erich Fischer is a climatologist at the federal technology institute ETH Zurich. He researches extreme weather events and develops worst-case climate scenarios to help society, policymakers and businesses prepare for the future. He is also a lead author of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) reports.<\/p>\n

\"Erich<\/p>\n

Erich Fischer is a climatologist at the federal technology institute ETH Zurich. <\/p>\n

Eth Z\u00fcrich \/ Kilian Kessler <\/p>\n

SRF News: Climate scientists and the IPCC have been criticised for not warning strongly enough about the risks of climate change.<\/p>\n

Erich Fischer: We hear that quite often now. A journalist recently asked a French colleague who has worked in climate communication for 20 years: \u2018Why didn\u2019t you tell us how serious the situation would become?\u2019 Yet ten years ago, we were often accused of being alarmist. When you look at the images we\u2019re seeing today, reality itself is alarming.<\/p>\n

SRF News: Why hasn\u2019t the message got through?<\/p>\n

E.F.: The challenge is translating scientific figures into something people can feel. If we say there are now three times as many tropical nights, many people struggle to grasp what that means in practice \u2013 it can still be over 30\u00b0C at ten o\u2019clock at night.<\/p>\n

\n More<\/p>\n

\"Drought<\/p>\n

More <\/p>\n

Glaciers & permafrost\n <\/p>\n

Drought causes Swiss water levels to fall to record lows <\/p>\n

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This content was published on <\/p>\n

Aug 13, 2026 <\/p>\n

Rivers and streams in Switzerland have exceptionally low water levels due to the ongoing drought. <\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Read more: Drought causes Swiss water levels to fall to record lows
\n <\/a><\/p>\n

SRF News: The current drought is being compared to the drought of 1540 [an unprecedented 11-month megadrought]. Is that a fair comparison?<\/p>\n

E.F.: Although this dry spell has not lasted nearly as long, the context is different. We are living in a warmer climate, and warmer atmosphere is effectively thirstier. Air that is 3\u00b0C warmer can draw up to 20% more moisture from the soil. So even with the same rainfall deficit, the situation is worse today.<\/p>\n

SRF News: Will conditions get worse?<\/p>\n

E.F.: Yes. In the future, we will also miss the meltwater supplied by glaciers. For now, it still helps sustain Alpine rivers. Once the glaciers are gone, this compensating factor will be lost.<\/p>\n

\"Alpine<\/p>\n

More <\/p>\n

Climate solutions\n <\/p>\n

Why melting glaciers affect us all <\/p>\n

\n

Alpine glaciers could disappear by the end of the century. The consequences will be felt not only in the Swiss Alps but all over the planet. <\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Read more: Why melting glaciers affect us all
\n <\/a><\/p>\n

SRF News: For the next IPCC report, you are studying climate tipping points, including changes to the Gulf Stream. Tell us more about this.<\/p>\n

E.F.: We know from Earth\u2019s history that tipping points exist. The key question is whether they could be triggered in the near future. The Gulf Stream is partly driven by a circulation system in the North Atlantic that relies on dense, salty water sinking. Large amounts of meltwater could reduce salinity and weaken that mechanism. We are investigating such possibilities through \u201cwhat-if\u201d scenarios.<\/p>\n

\n More<\/p>\n

\"Bleached<\/p>\n

More <\/p>\n

Climate adaptation\n <\/p>\n

Scientists sound alarm over climate \u2018tipping points\u2019 ahead of COP30 <\/p>\n

\n

This content was published on <\/p>\n

Nov 6, 2025 <\/p>\n

With the widespread, irreversible die-off of tropical coral reefs, the Earth has reached its first climate tipping point. Scientists warn that others may soon follow, from melting ice sheets to rainforest collapse. <\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Read more: Scientists sound alarm over climate \u2018tipping points\u2019 ahead of COP30
\n <\/a><\/p>\n

SRF News: What could happen?<\/p>\n

E.F.: One worst-case scenario is a much drier Europe in summer, combined with significantly colder winters, especially in Northern Europe. Climate models indicate winter temperatures could be between 1\u00b0C and 10\u00b0C lower. Such changes would dramatically increase seasonal contrasts and create major challenges for society.<\/p>\n

SRF News: Would the effects be limited to Europe?<\/p>\n

E.F.: No, the consequences would be global. One of our biggest concerns is that monsoon systems would also be severely affected. Two to three billion people depend on these systems. The heat that no longer reaches us would have an impact elsewhere.<\/p>\n

Erich Fischer <\/p>\n

Erich Fischer is Professor of Climate Science at the federal technology institute ETH Zurich. He completed his doctorate in 2007 at ETH\u2019s Institute for Atmospheric and Climate Science. He subsequently worked as a postdoctoral researcher at the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) in Boulder, Colorado, and as a visiting researcher at the University of Reading in the UK before returning to ETH Zurich.<\/p>\n

Translated from German, sub-edited by ts<\/p>\n

\n More<\/p>\n

\n Opinion <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

More <\/p>\n

Climate adaptation\n <\/p>\n

What Switzerland needs to learn from earlier and longer heatwaves <\/p>\n

\n

This content was published on <\/p>\n

Jul 14, 2026 <\/p>\n

The exceptional heatwave in June highlighted the difficulties in coping with these new climatic extremes, says climatologist Sonia Seneviratne. <\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Read more: What Switzerland needs to learn from earlier and longer heatwaves
\n <\/a><\/p>\n

Articles in this story <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Tourists watch the ice melt in front of the tongue of the Rhone Glacier in southern Switzerland on…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":115377,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[4],"tags":[50,101,454,28244,457,458,41467,1812,17],"class_list":["post-115376","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-switzerland","tag-alps","tag-article","tag-beat-climate-adaptation","tag-beat-glaciers-permafrost","tag-environment","tag-global-warming","tag-kpi-srg-curation-culture","tag-production-type-curation","tag-switzerland"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@ch\/117092977688670420","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/115376","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=115376"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/115376\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/115377"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=115376"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=115376"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=115376"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}