Save the World’s Glaciers to Save the Planet: UN

AFP/APP

Geneva: Saving the world’s shrinking glaciers is a “survival strategy” for the planet, the UN emphasized on Tuesday, a day after President Donald Trump announced the US would withdraw from the Paris Climate Accord.

United Nations agencies have launched an appeal to scale up efforts to rescue the world’s 275,000 glaciers, which are rapidly melting due to global warming. UNESCO, the UN’s educational, scientific, and cultural agency, along with the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), highlighted the critical role these ice masses play in providing fresh water to over two billion people worldwide.

“The preservation of glaciers is essential for our ecosystems, our economies, and our planetary health,” said Ko Barrett, the WMO’s deputy chief, during the launch of the International Year of Glaciers’ Preservation in Geneva.

She stressed the importance of reducing greenhouse gas emissions, adding, “Urgent and sustained reductions in greenhouse gas emissions are vital. Unfortunately, we are heading in the wrong direction as levels of carbon dioxide and other heat-trapping gases continue to rise.”

Currently, glaciers cover approximately 700,000 square kilometers (270,000 square miles). These glaciers and ice sheets regulate the global climate and store nearly 70% of the world’s fresh water, making them essential for billions of people, the agencies said.

‘Survival Strategy’

“Preserving our glaciers is not just an environmental issue,” Barrett stated. “It is a survival strategy for both people and the planet.”

However, from the Alps to the Himalayas, these glaciers are melting at an accelerating pace due to man-made climate change, primarily caused by greenhouse gas emissions.

The appeal for glacier preservation coincided with President Trump’s announcement to withdraw the United States, the world’s second-largest carbon emitter after China, from the Paris Agreement. Critics warn this decision undermines global efforts to reduce fossil fuel usage and could embolden major polluters like China and India to weaken their commitments.

Global average temperatures hit record highs in 2024. Over the past two years, temperatures temporarily exceeded the critical 1.5°C warming threshold for the first time. Moreover, glaciers experienced their largest volume loss in five decades in 2023, according to the WMO.

‘Really Dramatic’

“Glaciers don’t care if we believe in science. They just melt in the heat,” said John Pomeroy, a professor at Canada’s Saskatchewan University, during the event. He warned that “restoring glaciers will take decades,” emphasizing the need for “urgent policy changes” and expanded measurements to detect changes and provide early warnings of droughts and floods.

Stefan Uhlenbrook, head of the WMO’s hydrology, water, and cryosphere unit, described the situation as “really dramatic.”

Fifty UNESCO World Heritage sites house glaciers, yet the agency warns that a third of these sites could lose their glaciers by 2050, regardless of efforts to limit temperature rise.

UNESCO estimates that while some glaciers may still be saved, this will only be possible if global temperatures are kept from rising more than 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels.