Melting is one of the major threats from climate warming
A third of world heritage glaciers will disappear by 2050
Glaciers can be saved by limiting climate warming to 1.5 degrees.
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The United Nations warned yesterday that a third of the glaciers classified as World Heritage by UNESCO will disappear by 2050 "whatever the climate scenario", stressing the need for "rapidly reducing carbon dioxide emissions" to preserve the remaining two-thirds.
The study included 18,600 glaciers, with an area of 66,000 square kilometers, distributed over 50 sites classified as World Heritage, or 10% of the total glacier area in the world, which reflects the state of glaciers in the world, according to a statement by "UNESCO".
According to a report published by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change in the spring, melting snow and ice is one of the major threats from global warming.
The glaciers listed in the world heritage are melting an average of 58 billion tons of ice each year, which is equivalent to the volume of water used by France and Spain annually, which contributes to the rise in global sea level, according to "UNESCO".
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization said that the remaining glaciers, which make up two-thirds of the current area, would not necessarily disappear, but "could be saved by limiting climate warming to 1.5 degrees."
The Director-General of the Organization, Audrey Azoulay, considered that the United Nations climate conference, which will be held from the sixth to the 18th of November in the Egyptian region of Sharm el-Sheikh, will be "decisive in helping to find solutions."
It is likely that all glaciers on the World Heritage List in Africa will disappear by 2050, most notably those in Kilimanjaro National Park in Tanzania.
In Europe, the glaciers of the Pyrenees-Mon-Perdeaux in France and Spain are expected to disappear, as well as those of the Dolomites in Italy, and the national parks of Yellowstone and Yosemite in the United States.
Glaciers in the Protected Areas of the Three Parallel Rivers in Yunnan, China, have seen their volumes drop by more than half and are currently melting fastest among the classified sites.
The organization warned that "about 50% of the glaciers included in the World Heritage list could disappear almost completely by the year 2100, if emissions remain at their current level."
In addition to calling for a "radical" reduction in greenhouse gas emissions, UNESCO has called for the creation of an "international fund to monitor and conserve glaciers."
• World Heritage glaciers melt an average of 58 billion tons of ice each year, which is equivalent to the volume of water used by France and Spain annually.
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