According to a United Nations climate report, a third of the world's glaciers will be gone by the year 2050. Half of the World Heritage glaciers could disappear in 50 years without further reductions in greenhouse gases.
The report said that two-thirds of World Heritage glaciers could survive a global temperature increase of two degrees Celsius. The goal of the Paris Agreement is a 1.5 degree C increase.
According to Daniel Farinotti, a co-author of the new report, the changes are alarming. We need to reduce global emissions of greenhouse gases if we want to do anything about it.
According to a report published this month by the U.N. Educational, Scientific and Cultural organization, many of the glaciers that provide water resources to local communities are in danger of disappearing by the year 2050. According to the organization's website, World Heritage sites are legally protected locations with cultural and natural heritage around the world considered to be of outstanding value to humanity.
The study shows ice loss is speeding up.
The projected loss of one-third of World Heritage glaciers will happen regardless of future climate mitigation efforts, according to the report.
The glaciers will keep retreating even if we drastically reduce carbon emissions. Half of World Heritage glaciers will be lost by the end of the century with no further reductions in greenhouse gas emissions.
The New York Times reported that recent data shows the world is falling short of its goals. UNESCO hopes the report will encourage a recommitment to those efforts. "We think this can be a strong message to decision-makers, given that these places are icons for humanity," Resende said.
The need for reduced emissions was stressed by UNESCO. Improving the monitoring of glaciers, developing early warning systems for floods and other disasters associated with glacier retreat, and working with Indigenous peoples, whose knowledge on managing resources is embedded in culture, traditional practices and belief systems are some of the things that are being done.
The last remaining glaciers in Africa, as well as other icons in Europe and North America, are predicted to be lost by the year 2020. Larger glaciers, such as those at Olympic National Park in Washington state, would be jeopardized by the "business-as- usual" scenario.
Satellite data and models estimating ice thickness are included in UNESCO's publication. The glaciers at 50 World Heritage sites represent almost 10% of the planet's glacier area. From 2000 to 2020, the glaciers of the World Heritage lost almost 1,300 billion tons of ice, or an average yearly volume equivalent to the total annual volume of water consumed in France and Spain.
Losing these ice giants will cost a lot. They provide habitats for biodiversity, reflective surfaces that help limit warming, and fresh water for drinking and agriculture to half of the world's population. The report said that once a maximum meltwater contribution is reached, annual runoff is reduced as the glacier shrinks so that it can no longer produce meltwater.
In countries such as India and China, which lie downstream of the Himalayas, this could be devastating. He said that they got water from the mountains. You can either get water from the glaciers or you can't.
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