A total of one-third of glaciers at UNESCO World Heritage sites will disappear by then as a result of global warming, the Paris-based organization said on Thursday. According to a report by Unesco and the World Conservation Union (IUCN), World Heritage glaciers are losing 58 billion tons of ice each year. Since 2000, they have been melting faster due to higher CO2 emissions.
According to Unesco, 50 World Heritage sites contain a total of 18,600 glaciers. Together they measure about 66,000 square kilometers and account for about ten percent of the world’s glacial area.
Two-thirds of world heritage glaciers are still recoverable, according to the report. But global warming should not rise more than 1.5 degrees above pre-industrial times. According to experts, this 1.5-degree target is only possible with a radical political change of direction.
UNESCO Director-General Audrey Azoulay saw the report as a call to action. “Only a rapid reduction in CO2 emission levels can save glaciers and the extraordinary biodiversity that depends on them.” Bruno Oberle, Director-General of IUCN, warned: “As glaciers melt rapidly, millions of people face water shortages and an increased risk of natural disasters such as flooding, and then millions more could be displaced by sea level rise.”
According to UNESCO, half of humanity is directly or indirectly dependent on glacial waters.
(SDA)