Knowledge Glaciers survive a little longer than expected thanks to avalanches
Avalanches contribute significantly to the survival of many glaciers. In some regions, more than a fifth of glacier snow comes from avalanches, as a new global study led by Switzerland shows. Smaller glaciers can survive longer as a result.
26.11.2025, 11:01
SDA
"I would never have thought that this effect would be so great globally," said Marin Kneib, researcher at the Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research (WSL), according to a WSL press release on Wednesday.
According to WSL, the researchers have for the first time estimated the extent to which avalanches contribute to the snow supply and thus to the mass balance of glaciers for all of the approximately 200,000 glaciers worldwide
According to the study published in the journal "Nature Communications", on average around eleven percent of glacier snow in the Alps comes from avalanches, around 19 percent in the eastern Himalayas and as much as 22 percent in New Zealand. For individual glaciers, the proportion can be over 50 percent. In flatter regions such as Iceland or Greenland, however, avalanches hardly play a role.
No rescue for glaciers
Small glaciers in particular benefit from avalanches. Thanks to avalanches, they could withstand climate change somewhat longer than previously predicted. However, the researchers are not talking about a rescue, but merely a delay in the retreat. "Either way, we will lose more than 80 percent of the ice volume of the year 2000 in the Alps by 2100," said Kneib.
In other regions, such as the tropical Andes, avalanches have a partially negative effect. There, large amounts of snow slide off steep glacier surfaces before they can condense into ice. Avalanches therefore remove more snow than they deliver, which further worsens the mass balance.
