U.N.: Global temperatures are increasing and melting glaciers around the world.

According to a report by UNESCO released on Friday, glaciers are disappearing more quickly than ever. The last three years saw the greatest loss of mass on record.

Michael Zemp of the Switzerland-based World Glacier Monitoring Service said that the 9,000 gigatons (or a quarter of a million tons) of ice lost by glaciers since 1975 is roughly equivalent to an ice block as large as Germany and with a thickness of 25 meters. This was revealed at a Geneva press conference to announce the report.

Climate change caused by fossil fuels will likely cause global temperatures to rise, accelerating the dramatic ice melt from the Arctic to Alps and from South America to Tibet Plateau. As sea levels rise, and as these water sources diminish, this would likely cause economic and environmental problems around the world.

The report coincides in Paris with a UNESCO Summit marking the first World Day for Glaciers. It calls for global action to save glaciers all over the world.

Zemp reported that the glaciers lost 450 gigatons in 2024, the most mass since the 1960s.

Mountain glaciers are now one of the biggest contributors to sea-level rise. This puts millions of people at risk of flooding and damages water routes on which billions of people rely for hydroelectric power and agriculture.

Stefan Uhlenbrook is the Director of Water and Cryosphere for the World Meteorological Organization. He said that there are about 275,000 glaciers left in the world, which together with the Antarctica and Greenland Ice Sheets, make up about 70% of freshwater.

Uhlenbrook stated that "we need to advance our knowledge of science, and we need to do so through better observing and forecasting systems and through better early warning systems both for the planet as well as the people."

DANGERS AND DEITIES

Around 1.1 billion people are living in mountain communities. They suffer the immediate effects of glacier melt due to natural hazards and unstable water sources. Remote locations and difficult terrains make it difficult to find cheap solutions.

As temperatures rise, they are likely to worsen the droughts that affect areas that depend on snowpacks for freshwater. They will also increase the severity and frequency hazards such as avalanches and landslides.

A Peruvian farmer who lives downstream of a glacier retreating has brought the matter to court. He is suing German energy company RWE to pay for the flood defences of the glacial lakes proportional to the global emissions of that company.

Heidi Sevestre (secretariat of the Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Program) told UNESCO officials in Paris that the changes they see on the ground are "literally heartbreaking".

Sevestre said that "things are actually happening much faster than what we expected" in some regions. He cited a recent visit to the Rwenzori Mountains in East Africa and Uganda, where the glaciers will disappear by 2030.

Sevestre worked with indigenous Bakonzo groups in the region who believed that a deity named Kitasamba lived within the glaciers.

Can you imagine their deep spiritual connection and the strong attachment to the glaciers they have? What might it mean for them if the glaciers disappear?" Sevestre said.

According to a new UNESCO study, melting glaciers in East Africa have led to an increase in local conflicts over water. While the global impact is minimal, the trickle from melting glaciers all around the globe is compounding the effect.

Melting mountain glaciers between 2000 and 2023 have contributed to a global sea-level rise of 18 millimeters, or about 1 mm each year. According to the World Glacier Monitoring Service, every millimeter of sea level rise can cause up to 300,000. people to be flooded annually.

Sevestre stated that "billions of people, whether they are aware of it or not, are linked to glaciers and will need billions to protect them."

(source: Reuters)