The report, assessing the hydrological year ending September 30, 2026, revealed that Swiss glaciers shrank by 5.5 percent in volume over the past 12 months alone, bringing total ice loss since 2021 to nearly 20 percent. Matthias Huss, head of Glamos, detailed field observations at the Skex Rouge glacier, where measuring poles inserted four meters deep into the ice in July were exposed by an additional three meters by early September—demonstrating extreme melting rates even at altitudes of 3,000 meters. The ice loss between July and September reached approximately 2.2 trillion liters of water, four times the annual drinking water consumption of all Swiss households combined. Glaciologists including Harry Zekollari from Vrije Universiteit Brussel warned that peak water runoff in the European Alps has already passed, threatening Alpine tourism, hydroelectric power generation, and river ecosystems. Scientists emphasized that while unchecked global emissions could erase 90 percent of Alpine glaciers by 2100, rapid carbon reduction could preserve up to a third of the region's remaining ice.