Impakter
  • News
    • Culture
      • Art
      • Cinema
      • Entertainment
      • Literature
      • Music
      • Photography
    • Style
      • Architecture
      • Design
      • Fashion
      • Foodscape
      • Lifestyle
    • Society
      • Business
      • Foreign Affairs & Politics
      • Health
      • Tech
      • Science
      • Start-up
    • Impact
      • Eco Life
      • Circular Economy
      • COP26
      • CityLife
        • Copenhagen
        • San Francisco
        • Seattle
        • Sydney
      • Sustainability Series
        • SDGs Series
        • Shape Your Future
        • 2030: Dream or Reality
      • Philanthropy
        • United Nations
        • NGO & Charities
        • Essays
  • Environment
  • Sustainability Index
  • Partners
  • About
    • Team
      • Global Leaders
      • Contributors
      • Write for Impakter
        • Republishing Content
        • Permissions and Copyright
        • Privacy Policy
    • Contact
No Result
View All Result
  • News
    • Culture
      • Art
      • Cinema
      • Entertainment
      • Literature
      • Music
      • Photography
    • Style
      • Architecture
      • Design
      • Fashion
      • Foodscape
      • Lifestyle
    • Society
      • Business
      • Foreign Affairs & Politics
      • Health
      • Tech
      • Science
      • Start-up
    • Impact
      • Eco Life
      • Circular Economy
      • COP26
      • CityLife
        • Copenhagen
        • San Francisco
        • Seattle
        • Sydney
      • Sustainability Series
        • SDGs Series
        • Shape Your Future
        • 2030: Dream or Reality
      • Philanthropy
        • United Nations
        • NGO & Charities
        • Essays
  • Environment
  • Sustainability Index
  • Partners
  • About
    • Team
      • Global Leaders
      • Contributors
      • Write for Impakter
        • Republishing Content
        • Permissions and Copyright
        • Privacy Policy
    • Contact
No Result
View All Result
Impakter
No Result
View All Result
Home Environment

Half of World’s Glaciers Set to Disappear by 2100 – and That’s Probably the Best Case Scenario

Under the 2015 Paris Agreement, countries agreed that to limit global warming to 1.5° above pre-industrial levels was adequate “damage control.” New research shows us that it is not

byOlivia Sophia Eggleston
January 10, 2023
in Environment
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

A new study, published in January 2023, has established that the rate of glacial loss is far greater than expected. Even if global warming is kept to “only” 1.5°C above pre-industrial temperatures, it found that 49% of the world’s glaciers are likely to disappear by the end of the century. 

If warming continues at the current rate, glacier loss is expected to be around 68% by 2100. This would mean a near-total loss of glaciers in the US, western Canada and Europe by the end of the century. 

The paper, published last week in Science, projects that “glaciers will lose substantially more mass and contribute more to sea level rise than current estimates indicate.” The study follows research from 2021 which established that the speed at which glaciers are melting has doubled in the past 20 years. 

Along with threatening the water supply of over two billion people, sea levels would rise by around 115mm, and even at 1.5°C, the rise would be approximately 90mm. Glacier loss is directly linked to increasing global temperature. The researchers wrote:

“The rapidly increasing glacier mass losses as global temperature increases beyond 1.5C stresses the urgency of establishing more ambitious climate pledges to preserve the glaciers in these mountainous regions.”

Small glaciers are the most vulnerable to rising temperatures and will be the first to be totally lost. The consequences of these losses will be both environmental and economic as small glaciers provide not only water to the communities around them but also financial gain from tourism.


Related Articles: Could the Rate at Which Glaciers Are Melting Cause the Next Pandemic? | Alps’ Glaciers Melting at Record Rate | 5 Visible Signs of Climate Change in Antarctica | Unprecedented Worldwide Water Crisis in 2021 

Dr. David Rounce, the study’s lead author, has said that glaciers can really be “at the core of the societies and economies of those locations.”

Along with small glaciers, it is those in lower mountain ranges like the Alps and Pyrenees that are most vulnerable. Alpine glaciers will likely be 70% smaller already by 2050, with many of the smaller ones having completely disappeared.

But glacier loss is not a looming issue of the future. Shocking photographs of the Glacier 3000 ski resort in Switzerland show the Tsanfleuron pass in an unnatural bareness without the ice that has covered it for over two millennia.

What will glaciers take with them? 

When glaciers disappear, effects on ecosystems will be devastating, with biodiversity plummeting as a result of bare rock replacing snow tops. A paper published in Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution lays out how the land laid bare by glacial retreat will allow more invasive plant species to take over, driving delicate alpine flowers out of their natural habitat. 

Of course, the consequences of a species dying out does not end with that species. Extinction in ecosystems generally has a knock-on effect as dependent species can no longer survive – the basic science of the food chain. 

The study’s lead researcher, Dr. Losapio of Stanford University, explains that these alpine plants are “primary producers” and that they provide “food for all of the ecosystem – the consumers, predators, parasites, herbivores and pollinators.” 

In addition to biodiversity loss, studies such as this one warn that viruses and bacteria that have been locked in glacial ice could be released due to glacial melt, posing health risks to both animals and humans. 

In 2016, an outbreak of anthrax in Northern Siberia was attributed to the release of spores through the thawing of permafrost after the region experienced abnormally high temperatures. The outbreak caused the death of a 12 year-old boy and hospitalisation of at least 72 others. 

The study from Dr. Rounce and his colleagues is yet another emphasis that the most devastating effects of climate change are beginning now, if they haven’t begun already. The urgency of rapid action and inadequacy of current targets and efforts are not to be understated. 

But the scientists who are publishing these studies all agree that the worst damage is, as yet, avoidable. “There is a small ray of hope and a positive message in our study,” says Professor Regine Hock, Dr. David Rounce’s co-author. “It tells us that we can make a difference, that actions matter.”

Putting pressure on governments and policy-makers to effect large-scale emission reduction remains incredibly important, and is the most promising way to make a difference in the fight against climate decline.


Editor’s Note: The opinions expressed here by the authors are their own, not those of Impakter.com — In the Featured Photo: Glacier National Park, Montana, US. Featured Photo Credit: NatGeo YouTube video (screenshot) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ur4I8tYnxP4

–.

Tags: Biodiversity LossClimate ChangeglaciersGlobal warming
Previous Post

Sustainability Takes Center Stage at CES 2023

Next Post

Contemporary Feminism at the Cybernetic Crossroads

Olivia Sophia Eggleston

Olivia Sophia Eggleston

Having recently graduated from University College London with a bachelor of law, Olivia is embarking on a career in journalism. Of an Assyrian, German and English background, she was raised in the Hague and is now based in London. Her love of writing extends beyond journalism to poetry and short stories.

Related Posts

Are Electric Cars A Cure-All for Sustainable Mobility, Or Just One Part of A Larger Puzzle?
Energy

Are Electric Cars A Cure-All for Sustainable Mobility, Or Just One Part of A Larger Puzzle?

February 8, 2023
fossil fuel profits
Business

Energy Injustice: As Fossil Fuel Profits Double, Exxon Sues EU While BP Cuts Climate Targets

February 7, 2023
vaccinating wild animals
Climate Change

Vaccinating Wild Animals: Key Conservation Tool or Step Too Far? 

February 7, 2023
Next Post
Contemporary Feminism at the Cybernetic Crossroads

Contemporary Feminism at the Cybernetic Crossroads

Recent News

Are Electric Cars A Cure-All for Sustainable Mobility, Or Just One Part of A Larger Puzzle?

Are Electric Cars A Cure-All for Sustainable Mobility, Or Just One Part of A Larger Puzzle?

February 8, 2023
By Buying Your Smartphone Refurbished Rather Than New, You Can Save Over 77kg of CO2

By Buying Your Smartphone Refurbished Rather Than New, You Can Save Over 77kg of CO2

February 8, 2023
Our World Is Changing Ever Faster: What This Means For Our Survival

Our World Is Changing Ever Faster: What This Means For Our Survival

February 8, 2023
impakter-logo-light

Impakter informs you through the eco news site and empowers your sustainable lifestyle with its eco products marketplace.

Visit here IMPAKTER ECO for your eco products needs.

Registered Office Address

32 Lots Road, London
SW10 0QJ, United Kingdom


IMPAKTER Limited

Company number: 10806931

Impakter is a publication that is identified by the following International Standard Serial Number (ISSN) is the following 2515-9569 (Printed) and 2515-9577 (online – Website).


Office Hours - Monday to Friday

9.30am - 5.00pm CEST


Email

stories [at] impakter.com

About Us

  • Team
  • Contributors
  • Privacy Policy
  • Contact
  • Partners

By Audience

  • Lifestyle
  • Green Finance
  • Culture
  • Society
  • Style
  • Impact

Impakter Platforms

  • Media
  • Index

© 2023 IMPAKTER. All rights reserved.

No Result
View All Result
  • ECO Products Shop – Try now!
  • Culture
  • Style
  • Society
  • Impact
  • Sustainability Index
  • About
    • Partners
    • Team
    • Contact
    • Privacy Policy

© 2023 IMPAKTER. All rights reserved.

Impakter.com uses cookies to enhance your experience when visiting the website and to serve you with advertisements that might interest you. By continuing to use this site, you agree to our use of cookies. Visit our Privacy and Cookie Policy.