Hydrology: Will the Rhine be dry once the glaciers are gone?

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By the end of the century, the supposedly eternal ice in the Alps had melted. What does this mean for Germany, Austria and Switzerland? A river trip

From ZEIT No. 40/2026

The glacier is almost completely missing from the Pizol. The article follows its meltwater from the vanished Pizol glacier across the Alpine Rhine to Kaub and shows how much climate change is changing the Alps. Glaciologist Matthias Huss describes glaciers as water reservoirs that compensate for the lack of rain in hot summers and thus support water levels, drinking water and shipping. Hydrologists show that their share in the Rhine increases sharply during extreme drought, but this reserve is expected to disappear by the end of the century. That's why residents are planning new storage facilities, conversions and adjustments because drought and flooding will increase on the Rhine in the future.

Zig. Zack. Zig. Zack. The path from the Pizolhütte at 2,227 meters above sea level up to the Wildseeluggen winds in increasingly narrow serpentines through an increasingly barren mountain world. You can't get lost here, high above the St. Gallen Rhine Valley. Dozens of tourists are out and about on this late summer September day. They speak English, Spanish, Dutch, Swedish, and standard German is particularly common. The Five Lakes hike is one of the most popular in Switzerland, also because of the breathtaking views.