This year to celebrate World Water Day, March 22, the United Nations’ focus is on the preservation of glaciers.
The UN agencies in charge of the International Year of Glaciers’ Preservation have drawn up a dozen key messages, highlighting the importance of glaciers worldwide.
We cite only one message in this blog:
“A glacier is a large accumulation of mainly ice and snow, that originates on land and flows slowly through the influence of its own weight. Glaciers are found on every continent. They exist in many mountain regions and around the edges of the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets. There are more than 275 000 glaciers in the world, covering an area of around 700 000 km². Glaciers are considered as important water towers, storing about 170 000 km3 of ice, which amounts to approximately 70% of the global freshwater. Glaciers are a source of life, providing freshwater to people, animals and plants alike.”
With global warming our glaciers are melting. The melting changes life on earth as we know it: sea levels rise, fresh water is added to the oceans, less salt disturbs the gulf stream and changes its pattern. Watch this 4 minute video from National Geographic, Climate 101: Glaciers.
