Between 1994 and 2017, 28 trillion tonnes of ice disappeared from the Earth’s frozen regions: UNEP
As part of its ‘Foresight Trajectory’ initiative, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) has released the seventh edition of its report on the state of global environment, warning of increasing health and environmental threats posed by rising global temperatures.
In a press statement, UNEP says that its report, The Weight of Time Facing a New Age of Challenges for People and Ecosystems, highlights newly emerging environmental risks and outlines possible responses. The report notes that the first edition of the series, released in 2016, raised early concerns about zoonotic diseases, four years before the Covid-19 pandemic.
It adds that the current edition focusses on the health of older persons, microbial threats from melting glaciers, and the shrinking cryosphere. The UN body says that the report is released at a time when regions in China, Japan, India, Europe, and the United States are experiencing prolonged heatwaves and flooding.
According to the report, adults aged 65 and above now make up a growing share of the population, particularly in cities across low- and middle-income countries. UNEP notes that annual heat-related deaths among older persons have increased by an estimated 85 pc since the 1990s.
The UN organisation says that there is a strong link between climate change and the retreat of the cryosphere, which includes all areas of the Earth where water is frozen. The report notes that between 1994 and 2017, 28 trillion tonnes of ice disappeared from the Earth’s frozen regions, with the annual rate of ice loss increasing by 57 pc compared to the 1990s.
According to its projections to 2100, UNEP says that half of the world’s glaciers will vanish, even if the global temperature increase is limited to 1.5°C. Between 24 and 69 pc of the planet’s near-surface permafrost is also expected to thaw.
The environmental organisation says that the reactivation of ancient microbes is now another emerging concern highlighted by the report. As per the report, a 2022 estimate suggests that 2.9 x 10²² microbes will be discharged annually into Northern Hemisphere ecosystems for the next 80 years due to glacier melt. According to UNEP, many of these microorganisms will interact with existing microbial communities and multicellular organisms. Research shows that some may become pathogenic to plants, animals, and humans.
For instance, UNEP cites an anthrax outbreak in the Yamal Peninsula in Russia, where melting permafrost led to the death of over 2,000 reindeer and the hospitalisation of 90 people from herder communities.
UNEP says that scientific studies have recovered fungal and bacterial isolates from Greenland ice cores dating back nearly 140,000 years. A separate study found microbes in samples from both Greenland and Antarctica, with ages ranging from 500 to 157,000 years. In the Himalayas, bacterial strains from glaciers including East Rathong and Chhota Shigri and Siachen and Batura, showed resistance to antibiotics and heavy metals.
The UN organisation says that the report also notes that over 670 million people live in cryospheric regions, and many more depend on water from these areas. Should global temperatures rise beyond 2°C above pre-industrial levels, the scale of ice loss would further increase, creating widespread risks.
As per the statement, to reduce these risks, the report calls for emission reductions, which include black carbon from diesel engines, agricultural burning, and wildfires. It also recommends restrictions on tourism in vulnerable frozen regions and an increase in scientific research on cryospheric microbial diversity.
Inger Andersen
“Heat waves are among the most frequent and deadly impacts of climate change, along with floods and shrinking ice cover. We must be prepared for the risks these impacts pose, especially for society’s most vulnerable, including older persons. Yet as this year’s Frontiers Report shows, solutions exist that can help protect communities and restore ecosystems long-thought to have been lost,” says Inger Andersen, Executive Director, UNEP.