The Himalayan glaciers may not be gone by 2035, but there is extensive (and properly peer-reviewed) evidence that glaciers around the world, including in the Himalayas, are melting as a result of warmer temperatures. The loss of glaciers would have profound and potentially dire consequences for the availability of freshwater in some parts of the world, and would contribute to rising sea levels worldwide.

The world’s glaciers provide some of the clearest evidence of climate change. The World Glacier Monitoring Service maintains an inventory of over 100,000 glaciers covering an area of about 240,000 square kilometres with preliminary estimates for almost double that area for the second half of the 20th century. The WGMS holds the most comprehensive and up-to-date compilation of data on the subject of glacier lengths and changes in their mass.

A recent joint report of the WGMS and the United Nations Environment Programme* says that “there is mounting evidence that climate change is triggering a shrinking and thinning of many glaciers world-wide which may eventually put at risk water supplies for hundreds of millions — if not billions — of people. Data gaps exist in some vulnerable parts of the globe undermining the ability to provide precise early warning for countries and populations at risk. If the trend continues and governments fail to agree on deep and decisive emission reductions... ...it is possible that glaciers may completely disappear from many mountain ranges in the 21st century.”

This doesn’t mean that every glacier is shrinking right now, but the global picture is clear: The world is losing ice as it heats up.

The apparent failure to properly review a single scientific paper cannot be taken as justification for dismissing the wealth of scientific work on glaciers and climate change, still less for denying the many different lines of evidence showing that human activity is rapidly warming the globe.

 

-Corey Watts, The Climate Institute Regional Projects Manager

*This report does not include any reference to or reliance upon the disputed Himalayan glacier statement

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