Climate change has been on scientists’ minds since the 1980s when it first became evident that our actions on Earth could drastically change its environment, increasing the surface temperature of the planet.
Now, almost 40 years later, it’s impossible to deny that our climate is changing rapidly.
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) has released a report that global warming will lead to the disappearance of some of the world’s most incredible glaciers in less than 30 years.
It has been calculated that by 2050, over a third of UNESCO’s 50 World Heritage sites that are home to glaciers, will simply melt away from the change in global conditions.
Combined, these sites house over 18,000 glaciers, which have been slowly melting since 2000. These sites lose almost 60 billion tonnes of water per year.
This report claims that it’s too late to save a third of glaciers, however, the rest remain safe for now.
If you’re a nature lover, you should start visiting as many magnificent glaciers as possible, to ensure you don’t miss out forever.
Here are the locations of the glaciers that will probably have disappeared by 2050:
- All African World Heritage destinations, including the glaciers of the celebrated Kilimanjaro National Park and Mount Kenya – Africa’s tallest mountain.
- Three Parallel Rivers of Yunnan Protected Areas
- Pyrenees Mont Perdu
- The Italian Dolomites
- Yellowstone National Park
- Yosemite National Park
Several other glacial regions are in danger, although their rate of decline is not as critical as the above.
They include the following:
- Three Parallel Rivers of Yunnan Protected Areas
- Western Tien-Shan
- Los Alerces National Park
- Huascaran National Park
- Waterton Glacier International Peace Park
- Te Wahipounamu
While there’s no denying this is sad news, it does give you a good reason to get out into these national parks and mountain ranges to witness the splendor of thousands of glistening glaciers sparkling in the frosty sun.
