Urgent Call to Action: Preserving the World's Glaciers Amidst Climate Change

A new study warns that urgent action is needed to limit global warming and preserve the world's glaciers, particularly in Sweden.

Key Points

  • • 1.5 degrees Celsius is the threshold to save half of the world's glaciers
  • • All Swedish mountain glaciers are projected to disappear
  • • Current warming is at 1.2 degrees Celsius
  • • Rising temperatures lead to severe freshwater shortages and rising sea levels

A recent study emphasizes the precarious future of global glaciers in light of ongoing climate change, with alarmingly specific implications for Sweden. According to research published in Science, limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius is crucial, as it could preserve up to 53% of the world’s threatened glaciers. Currently, the planet has warmed by 1.2 degrees Celsius since pre-industrial times, a rise that has already precipitated severe glacier loss worldwide. The outlook for Scandinavia is particularly grim; all glaciers in the Swedish mountains are expected to vanish, unable to retreat to higher altitudes, which are necessary for their survival.

Nina Kirchner, a glaciology professor from Stockholm University, underscores the critical importance of curbing even minor temperature increases: "Every tenth of a degree counts in our efforts to prevent glacier loss." The study further indicates that if warming trends continue on the present course, only a quarter of the world’s glaciers might remain by the end of the century. With each increase of 0.1 degrees Celsius, the planet could witness a staggering loss of 6.5 mm in global sea levels due to glacier melt.

The study’s findings portend dire consequences for freshwater resources globally, particularly affecting regions that rely on glaciers for their water supply, such as the Himalayas and the Alps. As Kirchner points out, the situation calls for immediate and coordinated global efforts to address climate change and safeguard the planet's glaciers before it's too late.