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A guide to visiting glaciers in Northern Europe

Glacier at Trygghamna, Spitsbergen

Glacier at Trygghamna, Spitsbergen

European glaciers and climate change

First, the bad news: glaciers in Europe are rapidly losing their ice mass. The Alps have lost roughly 50 % of their ice mass since 1900. Some Norwegian coastal glaciers were expanding up to the year 2000 driven by increased winter snowfall; these glaciers are now also retreating, just like glaciers on Spitsbergen and Iceland. Scientists have estimated that most of the smaller glaciers will have disappeared by 2100, and the Alpine glaciers in Central Europe may lose 90%-100% of their total mass.