The most crucial safeguard to stop substantial glacier retreat would be to significantly cut carbon emissions.
According to UNESCO Organization research which is regardless of the temperature rise scenario, some of the most iconic glaciers in the world, including those in the Dolomites in Italy, the Yosemite and Yellowstone parks in the United States, and Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania, may vanish till 2050- 2055.
One-third of the 18,600 glaciers that UNESCO monitors across 50 of its World Heritage Sites are expected to vanish by 2050-2055 according to the UNESCO Organization.
While the remainder can be preserved by limiting the increase in global temperature to 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) above pre-industrial levels, in an emissions scenario with business as usual, almost half of these World Heritage glaciers could almost completely vanish by 2100.
According to UNESCO, the research "demonstrates that these glaciers have been retreating at an accelerated rate since 2000 due to CO2 emissions, which are rising temperatures."
According to UNESCO, glaciers that are designated as World Heritage represent about 10% of all glacier areas on earth and include some of the most well-known glaciers in the world. These glaciers are important destinations for international travel, so their loss is felt greatly.
Unavoidable reduction:
Tales Carvalho, the report's primary author, claimed that World Heritage glaciers contribute to nearly 5% of the observed global sea level rise and lose an average of 58 billion tonnes of ice annually.
This amount is almost equal to the combined annual water which is used by France & Spain.
Carvalho claimed that dramatically lowering carbon emissions will be the most crucial precaution to stop significant glacier retreat worldwide.
Given that many of these glaciers will inevitably continue to decrease in the foreseeable future, UNESCO advises local governments to make glaciers a priority of policy by enhancing monitoring and research and putting disaster risk-reduction measures in place.
Carvalho stated that as glacial lakes swell, they "may burst and can produce devastating floods downstream."
Countries have committed to limiting global warming to 1.5C above pre-industrial levels, a target that, given present emission trends, the world is likely to miss.
Before the COP27 climate summit, which starts on Monday in Egypt, Audrey Azoulay, the head of UNESCO, issued a call to action.
Rapid CO2 emission reduction is the only way to save the glaciers and the amazing biodiversity that depends on them. The COP27 will play a crucial role in identifying answers to this issue.
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