Study: Already shrunk by half, Swiss glaciers melting faster

By JAMEY KEATEN
Associated Press

GENEVA (AP) — A new study has found that Switzerland’s 1,400 glaciers lost half their total volume since the early 1930s. The ice retreat has ebbed and flowed over time, but is accelerating at a time of growing concerns about climate change. A respected federal polytechnic university, and the Swiss Federal Institute on Forest, Snow and Landscape Research said a first-ever reconstruction of ice loss in the 20th century by assessing changes to the topography of the glaciers since 1931. They found that ice volumes shrank by half over the subsequent 85 years — through until 2016.