Major glaciers in Kilimanjaro and Yosemite will disappear by 2050, UN says

Major glaciers crossed the world, including those successful the Dolomites successful Italy, Mount Kilimanjaro successful Tanzania and Yosemite and Yellowstone parks successful the U.S., volition beryllium gone by 2050 adjacent if planetary greenhouse state emissions are reduced, the U.N. Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization said in a study connected Thursday.

Even if planetary somesthesia emergence is constricted to 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit), an progressively improbable scenario, astatine slightest one-third of the astir 18,000 glaciers crossed the 50 World Heritage sites volition vanish by mid-century.

"This study is simply a telephone to action. Only a accelerated simplification successful our CO2 emissions levels tin prevention glaciers and the exceptional biodiversity that depends connected them," UNESCO Director-General Audrey Azoulay said successful a statement.

The different glaciers tin beryllium saved lone if emissions are reduced dramatically and planetary temperatures bash not transcend 1.5 degrees Celsius of warming, UNESCO warned successful its report. Half of humanity depends straight oregon indirectly connected glaciers arsenic a h2o root for home use, agriculture and power, according to the report.

Glaciers successful Africa volition apt beryllium affected the astir by clime change. According to the UNESCO data, glaciers successful each World Heritage sites connected the continent volition "very likely" beryllium gone by 2050, including Kilimanjaro National Park and Mount Kenya.

World Heritage glaciers, which correspond astir 10% of the world's glacier areas, suffer astir 58 cardinal tons of crystal each twelvemonth — the equivalent to the combined yearly h2o usage of France and Spain. The melting is liable for astir 5% of observed planetary sea-level rise, the study said.

"When glaciers melt rapidly, millions of radical look h2o scarcity and the accrued hazard of earthy disasters specified arsenic flooding, and millions much whitethorn beryllium displaced by the resulting emergence successful oversea levels," said Bruno Oberle, manager wide of the International Union for Conservation of Nature.

The findings travel up of the U.N.'s COP27 clime conference, which authors of the study said volition play a important relation successful uncovering solutions for accelerating crystal melt.