Melting Glaciers: Threats to Drinking Water, Floods, and Droughts

The melting of ice caps due to the climate crisis is expected to cause floods, drinking water contamination, and drought, which appears irreversible.

The scientific community considers 2060 the milestone year for melting of Earth's ice caps, which will become irreversible if greenhouse gas emissions continue at current rates.

Michael Cheb, a researcher at the University of Zurich and director of the World Glacier Observatory, recently stated in an interview with German broadcaster ARD that the global ice thickness of glaciers is declining at a rate two to three times higher than the 20th-century average, resulting in a loss of approximately three times the volume of glaciers remaining in the Alps every year.

The WGMS has gathered data from almost twenty different regions for over 120 years to create a comprehensive picture. The melting of glaciers is happening at an unprecedented speed, which is irreversible even if climate change is halted since glaciers react to warming with a lag. Melting glaciers account for 25-30% of global sea level rise, corresponding to one millimeter of rise per year.

The Organization of the United Nations warned that a third of the glaciers on Unesco's list of World Heritage sites will have disappeared by 2050 "whatever the climate scenario." At the same time, it called for "carbon emissions to be reduced immediately" to preserve the remaining two-thirds. The report covers 18,600 glaciers totaling 66,000 square kilometers located in 50 World Heritage sites, or 10% of the total surface area of glaciers on Earth, "representative" of the state of glaciers worldwide, Unesco explained.

Since the beginning of the Industrial Revolution, greenhouse gases have been warming the Earth, causing Alpine glaciers to lose approximately one-third of their total area. Glacial melt varies from region to region but poses several threats, including water accumulation in lower "glacial lakes," releasing bacteria and pathogens that enter the drinking water, and threatening drought when they form natural water reservoirs.

Around two billion people depend on meltwater, and the world's poorest regions will be most affected, especially around the Himalayas and the Andes. Melting glaciers also contribute to rising sea levels, threatening countries like Bangladesh, Pakistan, Thailand, Indonesia, and Egypt.

Since 1990, more than 28 trillion tonnes of ice from the world's arctic regions have melted, and in 2021 it was melting at a rate 57% faster than in the 1990s.

Low-lying countries, which already suffer from extreme storms and flooding, are more vulnerable to the effects of rising temperatures and sea level rise. Gradually, people now in brackish water areas, which are salty and fresh water, will be forced to migrate as the soil becomes wholly saline and their agricultural productivity declines, the scientific community warns.

A study published in Science predicts that 83% of the world's mountain glaciers could disappear by 2100 if global warming reaches four degrees above pre-industrial levels. Even in the best-case scenario where the temperature rise is limited to 1.5°C, almost half of the glaciers would still exist. However, two-thirds of the ice volume in Switzerland would be lost, and 1,100-1,200 of its current 1,400 glaciers would vanish by 2100. The melting will continue, and if the temperature increases by 3°C, many Swiss glaciers will disappear completely.

Melting glaciers, seawater's thermal expansion, and the slow melting of kilometer-thick polar ice sheets will cause sea levels to rise about 10-15 cm by 2100. While this may seem small, it poses significant problems for coastal areas worldwide.

Furthermore, a recent study of the environment at the Earth's poles has shown that the last safe 'paradise' for polar animals is in danger of disappearing because of rising temperatures caused by melting ice. An American university in Washington, D.C., has announced that the last iceberg region, north of Greenland, has been dramatically affected by climate change. Animals such as polar bears, which rely on permafrost to survive as they build their dens and raise their cubs, are expected to be dramatically affected and endangered.