Glaciers once deemed ‘eternal’ will not survive 21st century, warns UN

UNITED NATIONS, Mar 22 (APP): Glaciers in many regions will not survive the 21st century if they keep melting at the current rate, potentially jeopardizing hundreds of millions of people living downstream, UN climate experts said Friday, the first World Day for Glaciers, according to the UN weather agency.
Together with ice sheets in Greenland and Antarctica, glaciers lock up about 70 per cent of the world’s freshwater reserves, it was pointed out. They are striking indicators of climate change, as they typically remain about the same size in a stable climate.
But with rising temperatures and global warming triggered by human-induced climate change, they are melting at unprecedented speed, said Sulagna Mishra, Scientific Officer at the Geneva-based World Meteorological Organization (WMO).
In the 500-mile-long Hindu Kush mountain range, located in the western Himalayas and stretching from Afghanistan to Pakistan, the livelihoods of more than 120 million farmers are under threat from glacial loss, Ms Mishra warned.
Last year, glaciers in Scandinavia, the Norwegian archipelago of Svalbard and North Asia experienced the largest annual loss of overall mass on record.
Glaciologists determine the state of a glacier by measuring how much snow falls on it and how much melt occurs every year, according to UN partner the World Glacier Monitoring Service (WGMS) at the University of Zurich.
Last year, glaciers in Scandinavia, the Norwegian archipelago of Svalbard and North Asia experienced the largest annual loss of overall mass on record.
The mountain range has been dubbed the “third pole” because of the extraordinary water resources it holds, she noted.
With glaciers shrinking, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, called for enacting strong national climate action plans to preserve “these Frozen Lifelines for Humanity.”
“Glaciers may be shrinking, but we cannot shrink from our responsibilities,” the UN chief said in a message for the occasion.
“As glaciers melt,” he added, “they quench the thirst of communities, sustain ecosystems, and support agriculture, industry and clean energy. But scorching temperatures are draining these vaults at record speed — from the Himmalayas to the Andes, from the Alps to the Arctic.
“Deadly floods are being unleashed, impacting billions of people, in cities and rural areas alike. Low-lying communities and entire countries are facing existential threats, while competition for water and land is aggravating tensions.”
The UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and World Meteorological Organization (WMO) are co-coordinators of the World Day for Glaciers and the International Year of Glaciers’ Preservation (2025).
“Glaciers are among the most visible and dramatically changing indicators of climate change,” WMO Secretary-General Celeste Saulo told a high-level ceremony, citing new WMO figures.
The largest loss of glacier mass on record occurred in the past three years, and in all 19 glacier regions, according to the new WMO State of the Global Climate 2024 report.
The World Glacier Monitoring Service estimates that since 2020, annual global glacier loss amounts to 30 years of global water consumption. During this period, glacier melt contributed 18 millimetres to global sea-level rise, increasing the risk of coastal flooding for hundreds of thousands of people.
Glaciers have lost a total of more than 9,000 gigatonnes since 1975. This is the equivalent of a huge block of ice block the size of Germany with a thickness of 25 meters.
“This accelerated melting increases disaster risks, threatens ecosystems and disrupts the water cycle. Unfortunately, glacier retreat endangers existing water supplies of millions of people, putting at risk drinking water supply, food security, and energy production. Every fraction of a degree of warming matters,” said Celeste Saulo.