RHONE GLACIER, Switzerland (AP) — One of Switzerland’s glaciologists says his teams are noticing a strange phenomenon in the Alpine country’s glaciers. Holes are emerging inside — a bit like Swiss cheese — seemingly caused by turbulence as water passes through the bottom of the glacier or air flows through the gaps that appear inside. The glaciers of Switzerland, which has the most of any country in continental Europe, are fading because of global warming. Their fragility became starkly apparent last month as a mudslide swallowed up the village of Blatten. Matthias Huss of the GLAMOS glacier monitoring group took The Associated Press to see one major glacier this month.
Reporting by Fanny Brodersen, Matthias Schrader and Jamey Keaten, Associated Press
Banner image: Matthias Huss, of the Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich and glacier monitoring group GLAMOS, stands at the Rhone Glacier near Goms, Switzerland, June 10, 2025. (AP Photo/Matthias Schrader)
