UNESCO's World Day for Glaciers highlights effect of climate change

CGTN Europe

The UN's scientific body holds the first global-awareness day for a vital part of the world's ecosystem – not to mention agriculture, industry and clean-energy production. CGTN's Ross Cullen reports.   #climatechange  Read more 👇 https://tinyurl.com/2zny4wa7

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00:00Rapidly melting glaciers have profound impacts on people and the planet.

00:06The loss of the ice flows causes sea levels to rise,

00:09and it affects water supplies for agriculture, hydropower, and human settlements.

00:14For two days, UNESCO has been hosting scientists and policy makers

00:18for meetings and events focusing on glacier preservation,

00:22which is the theme of this year's World Water Day.

00:25It'll be largely these extreme events, the climate changes,

00:29that are going to force us to finally wake up.

00:32Lonnie Thompson is a distinguished earth science professor.

00:36For 30 years, he has drilled ice cores, explored ice sheets, and observed glacial retreats.

00:42Glaciers to me, they have no political agenda.

00:46They cannot be lobbied.

00:49Special interest groups, it doesn't matter.

00:51They just sum up temperature, precipitation, humidity, cloudiness, radiation,

00:56and they respond, and they're all responding in one direction in today's world,

01:00and they're retreating.

01:02UNESCO's report warns that retreating glaciers threaten the food and water supply

01:07of two billion people around the world.

01:10There's only one way we have to reduce our carbon emissions to the atmosphere, greenhouse gases.

01:16They have to be lowered, or we will lose all of our mountain glaciers

01:21and eventually the polar glaciers.

01:24China has been one of the key nations in developing local strategies

01:28to adapt to shrinking glaciers.

01:30It faces its own critically endangered glaciers, like Dagu in Sichuan province.

01:36Ice sheets are critical to life.

01:38Their meltwater is essential for drinking water, agriculture, industry,

01:43clean energy production, and healthy ecosystems.

01:46But a warming world is causing glaciers to disappear.

01:50It's hoped that events and initiatives like this can spur action

01:54to try to mitigate the impact of their loss.

01:57Ross Cullen, CGTN, Paris.

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