The United Nations has warned that declining iceotilities threaten food and water supplies with billions of people all over the world, because the current “unprecedented” fusion rates will have irreparable consequences.
Two -thirds of all irrigated agriculture in the world are likely to be affected somehow by the decline in ice rivers and the decrease in snowfall in the mountainous regions, driven by the climate crisis, according to UNESCO a report.
More than a billion people live in mountainous areas, including in developing countries, up to half, they are already suffering from food insecurity. It is possible that it will get worse, because the production of food in such areas depends on mountain water, and the snow and ice rivers dissolve, according to what he said. Global Water Development Report 2025.
Advanced countries are also in danger: in the United States, for example, the Colorado River basin has been in dehydration since 2000, and higher temperatures mean that more rainfall has decreased with rain, which stems more quickly than mountain snow, which exacerbates dehydration conditions.
“Regardless of where we live, we all somehow depend on mountains and ice rivers. But natural water towers are facing an imminent danger. This report shows the urgent need for work,” said UNESCO, Odere Azoulay, General Manager of UNESCO.
The rate of ice rivers change is the worst ever, according to the separate research on the World Meteorological Organization, which has published the annual climate report report this week. The study found that the largest three -year loss on the ice block in the past three years.
East Africa has lost 80 % of the ice rivers in places, and in the Andes Mountains, a third and a half of ice rivers have been melted since 1998. The ice rivers in the Alps and the Prusse owners, the most affected in Europe, have decreased by about 40 % over the same period.
Abu Amani, UNESCO Director of Water Science, added that the decline in ice rivers had an additional effect. “The melting of the ice rivers has an effect on a reflection [solar] He warned warning against radiation and this will affect the entire climate system.
After promoting the newsletter
More snowns will also result in snowfall A major factor behind the formation of collapse. The collection of water can also be released from the melting of the ice rivers, causing sudden floods in the valleys or for people living in the slopes. It also dissolves the frosty soil, and the methane is released from the mountain soils revealed by the melting of the ice rivers.
A previous study, published last month in the magazine magazine, which was reviewed by the counterparts, found that half of the global ice block will be lost by the end of the century, if the global heating is not stopped. “The mountainous ice rivers contain some of the largest freshwater tanks on the face of the earth. In the summer, Millette provides water supplies for a billion people and maintains a huge amount of industry and agriculture. Impact. [of such melting] He will feel the way that exceeds those who immediately head out of ice rivers. “
These effects come at a time when many food sources are already under pressure. Alvaro Lario, head of the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and the President of the United Nations Water, called for more support for people living in injured mountainous areas. He said: “The water flows down, but the lack of food security rises arduous.
“We must invest in their flexibility to protect the ice rivers, rivers and the common future for all of us.”