The final ice patch on Slovenia’s Triglav glacier, located on the country’s highest peak, has vanished after an exceptionally hot summer in Europe. The glacier, which holds significant cultural importance in Slovenian national identity, had already experienced dramatic retreat over preceding decades, losing 93% of its surface area between 1983 and 2003. However, the remaining ice persisted for two more decades before disappearing entirely in recent months.
Scientists confirmed the complete loss of the glacier through photographs taken this month before and after snowfall. Matija Zorn, director of the Anton Melik Geographical Institute, noted that while the annual decline was expected, the magnitude of melting each year proved shocking. Zorn, who began taking measurements at the glacier in 2001, documented the dramatic rate of change firsthand. He recalled that between 2002 and 2003, a five-meter-deep ice core he had sampled completely melted, with only exposed rock remaining at the same location a year later.
The Triglav glacier’s collapse reflects broader changes sweeping across the Alpine region. Recent assessments found that nearly a fifth of Switzerland’s glacial ice vanished in the last five years alone, with 2026 recording a 5.5% drop in volume. Scientists have characterized the transformed Alpine landscape as resembling “moonlike” rock deserts. The deterioration accelerated particularly over the last five years, which encompassed three of Europe’s hottest years on record.
Historical records show the glacier covered approximately 40 hectares in the mid-1800s, declining to 14 hectares by 1946 when formal measurements began. Triglav holds central importance in Slovenian culture, as climbers and skiers traditionally ascend the peak at least once in their lifetimes. While the main glacier has now completely melted, researchers discovered ice deposits in caves exposed by the glacier’s retreat, and a separate glacier on nearby Skuta mountain remains, though scientists expect it to persist only a few more years given current warming trends.
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