Slovenia's Triglav glacier has melted completely

The Triglav glacier, one of the last glaciers in Slovenia, has melted completely. The last patch of ice on Triglav, the country's highest mountain, has disappeared, as new photographs of the slope confirm. The news was reported by "European Pravda", citing the British newspaper The Guardian.

The once-mighty ice mass lost 93% of its area between 1983 and 2003, shrinking to less than one hectare of rock. Yet it surprised researchers who feared its imminent disappearance by holding on for another two decades.

The past five years

Over the last five years, which include the three hottest years on record in Europe, the remaining ice melted away, leaving only a few isolated patches. The final remnant of the main ice mass at the end of summer measured just a few metres. New photographs of the slope, taken before and after this month's snowfall, confirm that no ice is left.

Scientists' view

Matija Zorn, director of the Anton Melik Geographical Institute, said that Triglav holds a central place in Slovenian national identity. He noted that the glacier's disappearance means the loss of an important data source and an indicator of climate change. "Every year I realised there would be less and less ice. But every year I was struck by how much less ice remained there," he said.

Triglav is Slovenia's highest peak and a cultural landmark that every person in the country is believed to climb at least once.

Although the glacier is gone, scientists have found ice in caves beneath Triglav, as its retreat opened up new passages. A second glacier, on Mount Skuta, has also shrunk and thinned, but its remaining ice is better shielded from the sun than the ice on Triglav and is expected to last a few more years.

Earlier cases

In August, hot weather led Italy to close Stelvio glacier, the last location previously available for summer skiing. Last year it was reported that over 60 years, glaciers with a total area comparable to Lake Como had vanished in the Italian Alps.