BLOOMINGTON, U.S.A, Mar 22 (IPS) – Many glaciers in the world will not survive the 21st century, according to reports published by the United Nations. Five of the past six years have experienced the most rapid glacier retreat on record; 2022-24 was the largest three-year loss of glacier mass.
Reports from the United Nations Water, United Nations Education, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), and the World Glacier Monitoring Service (WGMS) conclude that glaciers’ “eternal ice” will not survive beyond this century in many regions of the world.
The UN agencies issued the alarm to observe the first-ever World Day of Glacier on March 21, that accelerating glacier melt risks unleashing an avalanche of cascading impacts on economies, ecosystems, and communities, not just in mountain regions but at a global level.
The United Nations General Assembly declared 2025 as the International Year of Glaciers’ Preservation and established March 21 as the annual World Day for Glaciers to increase awareness of the vital role that glaciers, snow, and ice play in the climate system and hydrological cycle, and their importance to local, national, and global economies.
Glaciers and ice sheets store about 70% of the global freshwater resources. According to the WMO and WGMS, there are well over 275 thousand glaciers in the world, including mountain regions. High mountain regions are regarded as the world’s water towers.
The Disappearance of glaciers threatens water supplies to hundreds of millions of people who live downstream and depend on the release of water stored over past winters during the hottest and driest parts of the year. Glacier melts also increase natural hazards like floods.
Preservation of glaciers is not just an environmental, economic, and societal necessity. It’s a matter of survival,” said WMO Secretary-General Celeste Saulo.
Based on a compilation of worldwide observations, scientists say that glaciers-which are separate from the continental ice sheets in Greenland and Antarctica—have lost a total of more than 9,000 billion tons since records started in 1975.
“This is equivalent to a huge ice block the size of Germany with a thickness of 25 meters, says Dr. Michael Zemp, the Director of the WGMS.
Glacier melts and sea-level rise
Glacier melt is currently the second largest contributor to sea-level rise, after the warming of the ocean.
According to research coordinated by the WGMS, between 2000 and 2023, glaciers lost 5% of their remaining ice.
In this period, the global glacier mass loss totals 6,542 billion tons – or 273 billion tons of ice lost per year, according to the study. This amounts to what the entire global population currently consumes in 30 years, assuming three liters of water per person per day.
In the last two decades, glacier melt contributed 18 mm to global sea-level rise.
“This might not sound like much, but it has a big impact: every millimeter of sea-level rise exposes an additional 200,000 to 300,000 people to annual flooding,” said Zemp.
Extra Burden on Mountain communities
Melting and change in mountain glaciers and snowpack pose added threats to communities in the high mountain region, including Hindu Kush Himalaya (HKH).
The UN Water report, Mountains and glaciers: Water towers, says that “the water resources we receive from mountains are literally melting away before our eyes.” It also confirms that the Hindu Kush Himalaya Region-which is also known as the Third pole, among the world’s highest and most extensive glacier systems—is among the most vulnerable to ongoing changes and is disappearing at an alarming rate.
The study says, “reduced water flows and increased droughts are expected to jeopardize food, water, energy, and livelihood security in the HKH region as well as disrupt ecosystems and escalate risks of conflict and migration.”
Pema Gyamtsho, Director General of the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD), says that these reports are the latest wake-up call.
“The studies rightly place the mountain cryosphere at the very top of the climate science agenda. They confirm that the mountain cryosphere is one of the most sensitive components of the Earth system to global climate change,” he said. “Glaciers in the HKH region, which stores more ice and snow than any region outside the poles, are especially at risk.”
Nearly one-fourth of annual average runoff in the HKH’s major river basins comes from snowmelt, with significantly higher contributions in the western region, reaching 77% for Helmand, 74% for Amu Darya, and 40% for the Indus river system.
“The pattern of decreasing snowfall could be particularly alarming for mountain and downstream communities that are directly dependent on this snowmelt. This also means that relevant agencies need to come up with proper management plans to offset water stress,” said Sher Muhammad, Remote Sensing Specialist at ICIMOD.
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