Glaciers melting faster than ever, risking a flood of consequences, says UN report

Record ID: 1986574

  • Title: Glaciers melting faster than ever, risking a flood of consequences, says UN report
  • Date: 21st March 2025
  • Summary: QUITO, ECUADOR (MARCH 23, 2025) (REUTERS) ***WARNING: CONTAINS FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY*** (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) INCUMBENT PRESIDENT AND CANDIDATE, DANIEL NOBOA, SAYING: “I think things are now a bit clearer for people that haven’t decided their vote yet. There are two options—one of justice and freedom and one of (Venezuela’s president, Nicolas) Maduro and de-dollarization. We w
  • Embargoed:
  • Keywords: Glaciers WMO flood food ice loss sea level rise temperature watter
  • Location: VARIOUS LOCATIONS
  • City: VARIOUS LOCATIONS
  • Country: Switzerland
  • Topics: Environment,Europe,Temperature
  • Reuters ID: LVA008011419032025RP1
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: PLEASE NOTE THIS STORY IS UNDER EMBARGO UNTIL 0100 GMT 21 MARCH 2025
    Glaciers around the globe are melting faster than ever, with the last three-year period seeing the largest glacial mass loss on record, according to a UNESCO report released on Friday (March 21).
    The dramatic ice loss, totalling 9,000 gigatonnes since 1975, is expected to continue accelerating and could lead to a flood of economic, environmental and social problems as sea levels rise while key water sources dwindle.
    "It would be an ice block the size of Germany with the thickness of 25 metres. That's the ice we lost since 1975 from glaciers," Michael Zemp, director of the world glacier monitoring service, said during an embargoed press conference unveiling the report in Geneva on March 13.
    "Glaciers might disappear on the current melting rates within this century," Zemp said, adding that five of the last six years registered the largest losses, with glaciers losing 450 gigatonnes of mass in 2024 alone.
    The accelerated melting has made mountain glaciers the largest contributors to sea level rise, put millions at risk of devastating floods and hurt water flows that billions depend on for hydroelectric energy and agriculture.
    Stefan Uhlenbrook, the director of water and cryosphere at the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), said about 275,000 glaciers remain globally, which, along with the Antarctic and Greenland ice sheet, comprise about 70% of the world's fresh water.
    "We need to advance our scientific knowledge, we need to advance through better observing systems, through better forecasts and better early warning systems for the planet and the people," Uhlenbrook said. “Preserving glaciers is not only an environmental imperative, it's really a survival strategy."
    Mountain glaciers have led to an estimated 25 mm (0.98 in) in sea level rise, with 1 mm expected to be added each year. Each millimetre could mean an additional 300,000 people at risk of floods, Zemp said.
    (Production: Cecile Mantovani)
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