UN report: Cryosphere collapse inevitable above 1.5C — SkimNews
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- International Cryosphere Climate Initiative (ICCI) and UN Environment Programme (UNEP) released a report by 80 scientists showing that even temporary overshoot of 1.5°C risks irreversible ice and snow loss, with consequences lasting centuries.
- James Kirkham, a glaciologist at ICCI and lead author, stated that the cryosphere is highly sensitive to warming and cited a deadly ice rock avalanche on the Nepal-China border that killed thousands and caused damage equal to 10% of Nepal’s GDP.
- Glaciers worldwide are expected to vanish within a decade, with Switzerland having already lost 20% of its glacier ice in five years, and current policies projecting less than 10% glacier mass remaining in the Rockies, Alps, and Scandinavia under 2.8°C warming.
- Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets are melting six times faster than in the 1990s, and the report finds they will continue losing ice even if warming briefly exceeds 1.5°C and later declines, with safe limits likely closer to 1.0°C.
- Hindu Kush Himalayas glaciers, which supply water to nearly a quarter of humanity, would retain 83% of their ice under 1.5°C warming but only 41% under current policy trajectories.
- Bill Hare, CEO of Climate Analytics, emphasized that rapid ice loss, sea level rise, and ocean acidification are now irreversible on human timescales and directly tied to weakened climate action by governments and fossil fuel executives.
Why it matters: Current policies point to 2.8°C warming, which would leave most mountain glaciers near extinction and cut Himalayan ice in half, threatening water security for billions. The report shows that even temporary overshoot inflicts permanent harm, making rapid emissions cuts and carbon removal essential to preserve ice on a human-relevant timescale.
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