Roughly one out of every four people on Earth depends on freshwater supplied by glacial regions, which cover 10 percent of our planet’s surface. However, this crucial resource is in crisis. New research highlights the alarming pace at which these frozen ecosystems are changing.
A study conducted by an international team of scientists reveals that glaciers in the tropics are melting faster than previously forecasted, retreating to sizes researchers did not expect to see for many years. “This shocked us, frankly,” said Andrew Gorin, a paleoclimatologist at the University of California, Berkeley, speaking to New Scientist. “I think this is clear evidence that at least one region in the world has now departed the hospitable climatic conditions that have fostered the development of human civilization.” Gorin added, “We’re quickly blowing past climate milestones that we thought were decades away.”
Gorin’s team discovered a suspicious lack of beryllium-10 and carbon-14 isotopes in minerals near glaciers in the Andes mountains. This indicates that these rocks have not been exposed to sunlight for at least 11,700 years, suggesting parts of the Andes have not experienced such low levels of glaciation since before the Holocene epoch, the period that saw the rise of human civilization.
Glaciers function as natural water reservoirs, collecting snow in winter and releasing it during summer melts, providing water for billions. As glaciers retreat, less freshwater becomes available. The Andes region is already experiencing record-breaking droughts and water shortages as a result, along with fatal floods as meltwater pools burst from the ice that once held them.
The situation is not isolated to the Andes. Previous research has documented accelerating glacial melt from the Himalayas to Alaska. “Glaciers are very sensitive to the climate system that they live in,” explained Shaun Marcott, a geoscientist at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. “They really are the place you would look to see some of the first big changes resulting from a warming climate. You can look to these glaciers and imagine what we might be looking at going into the future in other places like the Western United States, which is a no-ice scenario.”
The implications of decreasing meltwater from receding glaciers and saltwater incursion from rising seas are profound. Major rivers like the Magdalena and Ganges will see drastic reductions in flow, potentially forcing entire populations to migrate in search of water, as warned by UN Secretary-General António Guterres last year. “In Asia, for example, 10 major rivers originate in the Himalaya region, supplying freshwater to 1.3 billion people living in its watershed,” Guterres explained.
Another study by a different group of researchers, led by Monash University glaciologist Levan Tielidze, examined how drastically the local environment can change without glacial ice. Analyzing characteristics such as soil properties, microclimate, and biodiversity represented by environmental DNA, the team found that as ice retreats, new life quickly moves in to replace the old.
The consequences of this loss of established species and the establishment of new interactions remain unclear. Given that this pattern is likely to spread globally as the planet warms, it is crucial to understand the impacts of environmental change on surrounding ecosystems.
“Across the globe, from the Alps to the Arctic, glaciers are shrinking, leaving increasingly larger areas exposed both in mountainous regions and around polar ice caps,” said Tielidze. “The retreat of glaciers is one of the most evident signs of climate change.”
These studies, published in the prestigious journals Science and Nature, underscore the urgent need to address climate change and its far-reaching impacts on freshwater supplies and ecosystems worldwide.
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