Swiss glaciers 1850–2100

Vadret da Roseg

IceIce lost since 1850This glacier

Past extents come from the Swiss Glacier Inventories of 1850, 1931, 1973 and 2016. Future extents are illustrative: each glacier’s projected area (OGGM, median of CMIP6 climate models) is removed from its lowest ice upward. About the scenarios.

Inventory 6.58km² Area in 2016 · ±0% compared with 2016
Area 20166.58km²32nd largest
Elevation2,443–3,532mmedian 3,143 m
Length3.3kmfaces north
Area since 1850−36%10.25 km² in 1850
Tongue since 1855−4,438m117 measurements
Thinning 1935–2022−46maverage surface lowering
Ice left in 21001%of 2020 volume, SSP2-4.5

Vadret da Roseg is the 32nd-largest glacier in Switzerland, covering 6.58 km² in the canton of Graubünden. Its ice spans 2,443 to 3,532 m and faces north. Its meltwater drains to the Inn and on to the Black Sea. In 1850, at the end of the Little Ice Age, it covered 10.25 km²; by 2016 it had lost 36% of that area. Its tongue has been measured 117 times since 1855. In total it has retreated 4,438 m, about 26.3 m a year. Between 1935 and 2022 its surface dropped by 46 m on average. With strong climate protection (SSP1-2.6), about 14% of its 2020 ice would remain in 2100. With very high emissions (SSP5-8.5) it would be gone around 2070. Its meltwater peaked around 2020.

Pictures

In pictures

Vadret da Roseg in 2005.
Vadret da Roseg in 2005. Günter Seggebäing · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Future

What remains in 2100

SSP1-2.6 · low emissions14%40% left in 2050
SSP2-4.5 · intermediate emissions1%Ice gone around 2099
SSP3-7.0 · high emissionsGoneIce gone around 2083
SSP5-8.5 · very high emissionsGoneIce gone around 2070
SSP1-2.6SSP2-4.5SSP3-7.0SSP5-8.5
0%25%50%75%100%2020204020602080210014%1%0%0%
Ice volume as a share of 2020, median of 14 climate models; shaded: middle two-thirds of models. OGGM v1.6.

Meltwater

Million m³ of water per year, 11-year mean

01020304020102030205020702090
Water leaving the glacier area each year: ice melt, snowmelt and rain. It rises while the glacier melts faster, then falls as the ice runs out: “peak water”.
Measured

The record

Length change since 1855

Position of the glacier tongue, measured in the field almost every year. Hover for each measurement.

−5,000 m−4,000 m−3,000 m−2,000 m−1,000 m0 m1875190019251950197520002025−4,438 m
GLAMOS Swiss Glacier Length Change, release 2025.

Thinning since 1935

Average change in surface height, from comparing elevation models made from maps, aerial images and laser scans.

−50 m−40 m−30 m−20 m−10 m0 m19401960198020002020−46 m
GLAMOS Swiss Glacier Volume Change, release 2025.
Profile

Facts

Area over time

185010.25 km²19319.89 km²19738.78 km²20166.58 km²2050 · SSP2-4.53.56 km²2100 · SSP2-4.50.23 km²

Past areas are the ice body this glacier belonged to at the time. Projections: OGGM median, SSP2-4.5.

SGI id
E23-11
Canton
Graubünden
River
Inn → Black Sea
Basin
Inn
Location
46.3746° N, 9.8394° E · swisstopo map
Elevation
2,443–3,532 m, median 3,143 m
Slope, aspect
23°, north
Debris cover
0.19 km² (3% of the area)
Inventory image
2015
Ice volume (model)
≈ 0.286 km³ in 2020 (OGGM)
RGI ids
RGI60-11.02119, RGI60-11.02170, RGI60-11.02196, RGI60-11.02206
History

Events here

2024
rockfall

Piz Scerscen

About a million m³ of rock and ice fell from Piz Scerscen and ran some 5 km down the Tschierva Glacier.

Nearby

More in the Inn basin

All glaciers in this basin →

Sources

Sources

  1. Linsbauer et al. (2021). The new Swiss Glacier Inventory SGI2016. Frontiers in Earth Science 9. doi.org/10.3389/feart.2021.704189
  2. Mannerfelt et al. (2022). Halving of Swiss glacier volume since 1931 observed from terrestrial image photogrammetry. The Cryosphere 16. doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-3249-2022
  3. GLAMOS – Glacier Monitoring Switzerland. www.glamos.ch
  4. Zekollari et al. (2024). Twenty-first century global glacier evolution under CMIP6 scenarios and the role of glacier-specific observations. The Cryosphere 18 (OGGM v1.6 projections). tc.copernicus.org/articles/18/5045/2024/
  5. Petley, D. (2024). A large rock avalanche on Piz Scerscen in Switzerland. The Landslide Blog, Eos. eos.org/thelandslideblog/piz-scerscen-1
  6. Huss, Linsbauer & Naegeli (2025). Swiss Glaciers. State, projections and significance. Swiss Academies Factsheets 20(2). doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.14866776

Relief: swisstopo swissALTIRegio. 1850 and 1973 outlines: Maisch et al. (2000), Müller et al. (1976), Paul (2004). Length, mass balance and volume change: GLAMOS releases 2025. All sources and methods.

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