Triglav glacier vanishes after 50,000 heat deaths recorded in Europe

The last remaining ice on Slovenia's Triglav glacier is gone. New photographs taken before and after snowfall in October confirm that no ice remains on the mountain's slopes. This marks the end of a two-decade survival period for a glacier that researchers thought would vanish much sooner.

The ice mass lost 93% of its surface area between 1983 and 2003. It shrank to cover less than one hectare of rock. Despite this rapid decline, the glacier persisted for another twenty years. In the last five years, which includes Europe's three hottest years on record, the remaining ice melted into isolated pockets. By the end of summer, the final remnant measured just a few meters.

Matija Zorn, director of the Anton Melik Geographical Institute, has monitored the site since 2001. He said the rate of change was surprising even in years when the glacier defied expectations. The spot where he had to put on crampons to prevent slipping moved back year after year as the ice receded. Zorn said, 'The melting is incredible. In 2002, we took a core of ice out for some geochemical analysis and it was like 5 metres deep. The next year, I was standing on the same spot, not on ice, but on rock.'

Historical records show the glacier covered about 40 hectares in the mid-1800s. By 1946, when scientists conducted the first formal measurements, its area had shrunk to 14 hectares. Zorn noted that Mount Triglav holds a central place in Slovenian national identity. He said the loss represents the disappearance of an important data source and indicator of climate change.

Western Europe suffered its hottest summer on record this year. The heat caused at least 50,000 estimated deaths. The extreme temperatures also led to failed harvests and power plant shutdowns. Fierce heatwaves made hotter by carbon pollution have reduced large Alpine glaciers to 'moonlike' rock deserts. Last month, Swiss glaciologists reported that nearly a fifth of the country's ice had disappeared in the last five years, with a 5.5% drop in volume in 2026.

Triglav is Slovenia's highest peak and a cultural touchpoint. It is a destination that every person in the country is expected to climb at least once. Although the surface glacier has vanished, scientists have found ice in the caves beneath the peak. The retreat has exposed new shafts where ice remains. A second glacier on Skuta mountain has also shrunk and thinned. However, that remaining patch is better shaded and is expected to hold out for a few more years.

Miha Pavsek, a glaciologist and mountain guide, said nature is changing in front of people's eyes but they are not yet taking it seriously. He has a photograph of his parents at the glacier in 1957. Pavsek said, 'With the melting of the glacier, a part of me is also going away. There are some things that humans thought were eternal. Glaciers are obviously not.'

Scientists are still assessing the damage done to local ecosystems. The loss of the Triglav glacier adds to the growing list of Alpine casualties from the scorching summer.