UN warns of record glacier melt rate in 2024

The organization warns that protecting the planet's glaciers is now a matter of "survival".

Baltoro Glacier in the Karakoram Mountains, Baltistan, northern Pakistan. At 62 km long, it is one of the longest mountain glaciers in the world. Photo: Guilhem Vellut

Five of the past six years have seen the fastest rates of ice loss on record, according to the United Nations' World Meteorological Organization (WMO), as the first World Glacier Day was announced.

“Glacier conservation is not just an environmental, economic and social imperative: it is a matter of survival,” said Celeste Saulo, head of the WMO.

In addition to the large ice sheets in Greenland and Antarctica, more than 275,000 glaciers worldwide cover about 700,000 km². However, they are shrinking rapidly due to climate change.

“2024 marks the third consecutive year that all 19 glacier areas recorded ice mass loss,” WMO added.

According to new data from the Switzerland-based World Glacier Monitoring Service (WGMS), glaciers have lost a total of 450 billion tons of mass.

“From 2022 to 2024, we saw the largest loss of ice mass for three consecutive years,” said Saulo.

Last year, ice mass loss was relatively moderate in areas such as the Canadian Arctic and Greenland's peripheral glaciers. However, glaciers in Scandinavia, Norway's Svalbard archipelago and northern Asia had their worst year on record.

Based on a synthesis of global observations, WGMS estimates that glaciers (excluding the large ice sheets in Greenland and Antarctica) have lost more than 9,000 billion tons since records began in 1975.

"This is equivalent to an iceberg the size of Germany and 25m thick," said WGMS director Michael Zemp.

At current rates of melting, many glaciers in western Canada and the United States, Scandinavia, central Europe, the Caucasus and New Zealand "will not survive the end of the 21st century," according to the WMO.

The agency also noted that, along with large ice sheets, glaciers store about 70% of the world's freshwater, acting as the planet's "water towers." If they disappear, water supplies for millions of people downstream would be threatened.

Climate change is having a devastating impact on glaciers around the world. Recent studies have shown that if current trends continue, many regions that rely on glaciers for water will face severe water shortages. Experts are calling for urgent action to mitigate the effects of climate change and protect vital glacier ecosystems.

Cao Phong (according to WMO, CNA, CNN)