"A question of survival"

Why the melting glaciers affect us all

The melting of glaciers has serious consequences, for example threatening the habitat of animals and plants.

(Bild: Hölzl Roland)

Glaciers are melting at an alarming rate. This has such serious consequences that March 21 has been declared World Glacier Day to raise awareness. Because the disappearing glaciers have an impact on people, animals and plants.

The main cause of glacier melting is man-made greenhouse gas emissions, which are warming the climate. Between 2012 and 2023, the loss was 36 percent greater than in the previous ten years, according to a study by the Swiss University of Fribourg. There are around 275,000 glaciers worldwide. Experts are warning of the effects of the melting - which is manifesting itself in many different ways. 

There are bacteria and fungi in the ice
Unknown microorganisms are constantly being discovered in glacier ice. What happens when the ice melts? Chinese researchers have documented DNA from more than 10,000 types of viruses in mountain and polar glaciers, which they say do not pose a major threat to public health.

Preserving glaciers as a source of drinking water is a "question of survival"
 Glacier meltwater is a crucial component in supplying the world's population with drinking water. Preserving them as sources is a matter of survival for humanity, warns glaciologist John Pomeroy from the University of Saskatchewan in Canada. Glaciers are reservoirs; meltwater feeds rivers in hot seasons, for example, which are also used to irrigate agriculture.

Glaciers are water reservoirs. If they melt, important water reserves are lost.

(Bild: ÖAV Gletschermessdienst/ Matthias Plörer)

"The 273 billion tons of ice that are lost in a single year (due to glacier melt) correspond to the water consumption of the entire world population over 30 years, assuming three liters per person per day," the University of Zurich quotes glaciologist Michael Zemp.

Plants and animals under threat
Biodiversity changes dramatically in the area of mountain glaciers when the ice melts and temperatures rise. Heat-sensitive plants and animal species have to migrate higher. Cold-water inhabitants in rivers are threatened if their habitat is no longer cooled by glacier water.

The Swiss aquatic research institute Eawag writes that humans may also have to relocate sensitive river dwellers to higher altitudes. They would also have to be protected there. Areas released by glaciers must therefore not all be used as recreational areas or for the production of energy through hydropower.

The sea is rising
Glaciers worldwide have lost around 273 billion tons of ice every year since 2000, according to a new study led by the University of Zurich. This has contributed 18 millimeters to sea level rise.

The US climate agency NOAA assumes that sea levels will be around 30 centimetres higher at the end of the century than in 2000, even if greenhouse gas emissions remain at a relatively low level in the coming decades.

If sea levels rise, islands and coastal areas will be flooded, residential areas will become uninhabitable and arable land will be destroyed. Salty seawater can contaminate freshwater - and therefore drinking water sources - and hurricanes cause greater damage when water levels are higher.