Swiss glacier watcher warns recent heat wave threatens severe melt again this year after record 2022

By JAMEY KEATEN
Associated Press

GENEVA (AP) — A top glacier watcher has warned that a warm early summer and a heat wave last week could have caused severe glacier melt across Switzerland, threatening to make 2023 the second-worst year for ice loss after a record thaw last year. Matthias Huss of the GLAMOS glacier monitoring center said full data won’t be in until late September and a precipitous drop in temperatures and high-altitude snowfall in recent days could help stem any more damage. But early signs based on readings from five sites and modeling results across Switzerland suggest considerable damage may already be done.