Glaciers in Switzerland are melting at an unprecedented rate, according to scientists, with the icy formations experiencing a 10 percent loss in just five years.
About two percent of total Swiss glacier volume was lost in the past year alone, researchers report. Glaciers have lost more than 9,000 billion tons of ice worldwide since 1961.
Meteorologists said this past summer was among the hottest on record. The Northern Hemisphere, in which Switzerland resides, experienced its hottest recorded summer yet. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said that temperatures in that hemisphere were about two degrees higher than average.