(ORDO NEWS) — Glaciers across the planet are shrinking faster than expected, according to a new study by an international team of scientists.
By the end of the century, two-thirds of the glaciers could disappear if current trends in climate change continue.
Today, the world is on track for a temperature increase of 2.7 degrees Celsius compared to pre-industrial times.
After studying 215,000 terrestrial glaciers (not counting Greenland and Antarctica, which are all known glaciers on our planet), scientists used computer simulations to calculate, using different levels of warming, how many glaciers will disappear, how many trillions of tons of ice will melt, and how much this will contribute to sea level rise. seas.
It turned out that if current climate change trends continue, by 2100 the world will lose about 32 percent of the mass of its glaciers, or 48.5 trillion tons of ice, and 68 percent of all glaciers will completely disappear.
Then the level of the World Ocean will rise by 11.5 centimeters, and this effect will “add up” with the melting of the polar ice and the continuing warming of the water.
Such a rise in sea levels will affect at least ten million people on the planet, whose homes will be below high tide.
Also, the melting of glaciers means a huge loss of fresh water supplies, an increased risk of flooding and the destruction of the famous icy landscapes of the world’s highest mountains, including Everest.
For many small glaciers, the “point of no return” has already been passed: even if humanity sharply changes its mind and significantly reduces greenhouse gas emissions, glaciers will still noticeably decrease in area and, most likely, disappear.
However, if the world somehow miraculously stops global warming by fixing it at 1.5 degrees Celsius (this figure has already reached the mark of 1.1 degrees), the Earth will lose only 28 percent of glaciers.
The disappearance of glaciers will affect billions of people, as some of the largest rivers originate from their ice reserves.
Given that they not only provide the population with drinking water, but also allow agriculture and receive energy through hydroelectric power plants, the disappearance of these rivers will have a tremendous impact on the earth’s economy.
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