Deniz Kılınç / February 08 (HNA) – Glaciers that appear on almost every continent providing a large part of the freshwater of the entire planet World are now threatened, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) warned in a recent report.
According to the latest report by UNESCO, in partnership with IUCN, World heritage glaciers: sentinels of climate change, they lose on average some 58 billion tons of ice every year – and contribute to almost 5 per cent of global sea-level rise.
“Today we know that the glaciers in UNESCO World Heritage sites are retreating at an accelerated rate because of climate change” read the report and added:
“One-third of UNESCO World Heritage glaciers will disappear by 2050 because of climate change. If there is a silver lining, it is that the other two-thirds could be saved, should the rise in global temperatures not exceed 1.5 °C compared to the pre-industrial period. Urgent action is needed to preserve these iconic places for future generations.”
Earth’s glaciers are both a precious resource and a fragile ecosystem that is disappearing quickly due to global warming. Scientists warn that glaciers will vanish from the mainland US within decades. And their rapid melting is dangerous to society and the natural systems we rely on, stated in an article on Discovery.
Along with carbon released by thawing ground, and from microbes or soot stored in the ice itself, this negative climate feedback helps warm the planet further. Glaciologists studying tidewater glaciers in Alaska say that the warming sea is causing them to melt 100 times faster than was previously thought.
Alaskan and other communities that rely on meltwaters face a new problem – the sudden disappearance of rivers. This happens when a river’s course is changed by rapid glacial melt. In Canada’s Yukon, the Slim’s River changed course in a few days, drying up one river, lowering nearby Kluane Lake levels by almost two meters, and leaving residents and migrating salmon high and dry.
Scientists say the Greenland ice sheet is at a tipping point and one or two meters of sea-level rise from ice loss is likely. Researchers observing the Thwaites glacier in western Antarctica – called the ‘doomsday glacier’ – say its fate is in a delicate balance. Alone it could contribute 65cm (2 feet) to sea levels.
One study from Cornell University says the rise will probably happen quickly, leaving nations with the disastrous situation of more people on less land. By 2100, there could be as many as two billion climate refugees pushing inland from rising seas. Future-proofing against this scenario, say, researchers, means containing greenhouse gas levels and planning for a vastly different world.