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Khumbu glacier at the Mt. Everest region in Nepal. Recent research found that Himalayan glaciers are disappearing two-thirds faster than before. Credit: Tanka Dhakal/IPSby Cecilia RussellFriday, January 31, 2025Inter Press ServiceJan 31 (IPS) - The United Nations declared 2025 as the International Year of Glaciers’ Preservation to promote awareness about the role of glaciers, snow and ice. The climate system and global hydrological cycle are dependent on accumulated water in solid form as glaciers, snow and ice. Because of the global temperature rise and its impact on the Earth’s cryosphere, socio-economic and environmental effects are being observed.
According to the UN, more than 275,000 glaciers worldwide cover approximately 700,000 km². Glaciers and ice sheets store about 70 percent of the global freshwater. Scientists say the cryosphere—combinations of glaciers, ice, snow and permafrost—is melting faster than any recorded history, which is already contributing to altering the world's water system.
To address the impact to protect vulnerable regions like the Hindu Kush Himalaya and beyond, international cooperation on research and climate action is required.
In a joint statement to officially launch the International Year of Glaciers’ Preservation on January 21, UNESCO and the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) said, “Preservation of these crucial resources is essential not only for environmental sustainability, but also for economic stability and safeguarding cultural services and livelihoods.”
In 2023, glaciers suffered the largest mass loss of ice and snow in 50 years of recorded history and melting glaciers and ice threaten long-term water security and contribute to hazards and sea level rise.
Glaciers are regarded as water towers that provide freshwater to over 2 billion people worldwide. According to Dr. Stefan Uhlenbrook, Director of Hydrology, Water and Cryosphere at WMO, there are some misconceptions about glaciers that need to be addressed to make people aware.
Is it true that glaciers are remnants from the last ice age?
“No! But also yes,” Uhlenbrook said during an event on January 16.
"First, many of the glaciers that we see nowadays are probably where they were during the last ice age, which ended some 10,000 years ago. Other glaciers are much older—and here we are talking about tens of thousands of years."
Scientists believe that the age of the oldest glacier ice in Antarctica may approach one million years. The oldest ice in Greenland is more than 100,000 years old.
“They are sensitive climate indicators. They are rapidly retreating.” Unlenbrook added the retreat of the glaciers has been accelerating since the 1980s and 1990s and is linked to global warming.
Glaciers affect only the indigenous community on the high mountains
This is another misconception about glaciers—that they are only of local interest. But research shows clearly connections between glacier melting and sea level rise, which means the melting of glaciers in the high Himalaya in Nepal also contributes to sea level rise, affecting communities living on islands and shorelands of the continents.
Dr. Isabelle Gärtner-Roer, a cryosphere researcher at the World Glacier Monitoring Service, says, “If we were to lose all our glaciers, then we would have an increase in the water in the sea level of about 32 centimeters.”
The latest assessment by the IPCC shows that between 1961/62 and 2015/16, glaciers alone lost more than 9,000 billion tons of ice, contributing to raising water levels by 27 millimeters.
Glaciers are not moving
No! They are moving.
Generally, we see glaciers in the high mountains, and they look like they are just sitting there. But the reality is, glaciers are moving.
“Glaciers are moving,” Uhlenbrook says. “It's the interplay between snow accumulation, often in the winter, and the ablation in the summer, and then the gravity that moves the glaciers forward.”
Every year glaciers move forward up to 100 meters.
“Melting is stronger than the accumulation, so glaciers are moving.”
Glacier melting is good for water resources
We might think that in many parts of the world where water resources are not sufficient, it's good that melting glaciers help downstream communities to access water. But it’s not true in the long run.
“However, mind you that this storage of water, if it disappeared, is not recharged again,” Uhlenbrook added, “It could be that the glacier melt provides more water resources availability downstream for some years.”
Nothing lives in glaciers
This is clearly not true. For years, scientists have discovered cold-tolerant insects in Himalayan glaciers.
“It's microbes, algae, and small insects that can be found there. Experts are fascinated by the study objects,” Uhlenbrook said.
“It has a very distinct biodiversity. It's not true that nothing lives in glaciers."
What's more, he continued, they are life-giving. "We live from glaciers.”
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© Inter Press Service (2025) — All Rights ReservedOriginal source: Inter Press Service
