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A third of UNESCO World Heritage glaciers will disappear by 2050 whatever the climate scenario “, warned, Thursday, November 3, the UN organization, which calls for “ quickly reduce CO2 emissions to preserve the remaining two-thirds.
According to the report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) published in the spring, the melting of ice and snow is one of the ten major threats caused by global warming. The study covers 18,600 glaciers totaling 66,000 km2 spread over fifty World Heritage sites, or 10% of the earth’s total glacier surface, ” representative of the state of the world’s glaciers, specifies Unesco in its press release.
rapid melting
World Heritage glaciers are melting at a rate of 58 billion tonnes of ice each year, the volume of water used annually by France and Spain, contributing to global sea level rise, further indicates the Unesco. The two thirds that will not necessarily disappear ” could be saved if we limit global warming to 1.5 degrees “, adds the organization of the United Nations for education, science and culture.
The UN climate conference, which is being held from November 6 to 18 in the Egyptian resort of Sharm el-Sheikh, will be crucial to help find solutions “, underlined the director of Unesco, Audrey Azoulay. All World Heritage-listed glaciers in Africa” will most likely be gone » by 2050, notably those of the Kilimanjaro National Park, in Tanzania.
More glaciers in the Pyrenees
In Europe, the glaciers of the Pyrénées-Mont Perdu in France and Spain should disappear, as will those of the Dolomites in Italy and the national parks of Yellowstone and Yosemite in the United States. The glaciers of the protected areas of the three parallel rivers in Yunnan in China have seen their volume more than halved and are currently melting the fastest among the classified sites.
« Around 50% of World Heritage glaciers could almost entirely disappear by 2100 under a scenario where emissions remain at their current level “, warns the organization. Beyond a call for a reduction drastic of greenhouse gas emissions, Unesco calls for the creation of a international fund for the monitoring and preservation of glaciers ».
(with AFP)
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