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Hindustan Times
4 days ago
- Science
- Hindustan Times
Glacial pace of climate action has imperilled Earth's glaciers
The Yala Glacier, at over 5,000 metres above sea level, is a glacier on the brink. With rapid warming and declining winter snowfall, the river of ice is set to soon stop accumulating enough ice mass to move — and lose its glacier status. It joins a growing list of frozen casualties to the Great Thaw that we are now living through, and on May 12, communities, scientists, and local government met at the foot of the glacier to mark its rapid disappearance. The World Meteorological Organization's 2024 State of the Global Climate report, issued earlier this year, confirms last year was the hottest year on Earth in 175 years of observations. A major UN report published in March zeroed in on the implications of the relentless uptick in global temperatures, and emissions, for one of the most climate-sensitive components of the Earth system: our frozen mountain water resources. Among its findings is the stark fact that many mountain glaciers will not survive the 21st century. Changes to our mountains' glaciers, snow, and permafrost may not dominate our newsfeeds to the same extent as heatwaves, wildfires, or conflicts, do. However, these are the source of 60-70% of Earth's freshwater, and so the UN's findings should alarm the world. Many are aware of the very grave threats ice melt from polar ice sheets pose to flooding of low-elevation coastal populations and low-lying States; however, the threats we face from mountain glaciers and snow melting are set to hit us far sooner and will be no less devastating. In many cases, these will have more direct and near-term consequences for economic systems, and for massive human populations. Nowhere is this truer than in Asia, a continent where half the population lives in a river basin whose headwaters rise in the Hindu Kush Himalaya — the 3,500km-long mountain range that stores more snow and ice than any region outside the two geographical polar regions. Already, we are seeing breathtaking losses in mountain snowpack and ice. A new World Glacier Monitoring Service study shows that mountain glaciers lost over six trillion tonnes of ice between 2000 and 2023. While that's 'only' 5.4% of total glacier mass, it's 18% more than the mass lost from the Greenland ice sheet, and more than double what's been lost from the Antarctic ice sheet. And these mountain losses are accelerating — increasing by 36% from the first decade of the study to the second. The European Alps have recorded the largest losses, with 39% of glacier mass gone since the turn of the century. The Canadian Rockies have lost almost a quarter of their mass. While the snowpack and glaciers of High Mountain Asia are projected to be among the last to go, even here, one-fifth of the glacier mass has already melted away. This relatively slower decline in glacier mass balance should be of cold comfort to policymakers, economists, and populations in India and across High Mountain Asia. A huge proportion of Asia's economic output is generated within the river basins of the 10 major rivers that rise in these mountains. Close to half of India's annual GDP is generated in just the Ganges and Indus river basins. According to glaciologist Heidi Sevestre, the risks of water stress from diminishing water from the Ganga, the Brahmaputra, and the Indus make these three of the top four rivers 'most vulnerable to cryosphere change'. While India has made significant strides in human development in recent years, food insecurity remains extremely high across South Asia. Water variability prompted by glacier melt and changes in snowmelt for those living in up- and down-streams of the region's 10 major rivers — estimated to be above two billion people, 31% of whom are food insecure and 50% facing malnutrition — is one of the most serious and immediate consequences of global temperature rise, as per the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD). Water variability and incidence of droughts are likely to increase in the coming years, and overall water flows in river systems are also likely to decline from 2050 onwards. The UN Report states these 'reduced water flows and increased droughts are expected to jeopardise food, water, energy, and livelihood security in the Hindu Kush Himalaya region as well as disrupt ecosystems and escalate risks of conflict and migration.' The world in 2025 is facing extraordinary headwinds. Amidst all the conflict, political volatility, misinformation, and disinformation, it's clear that every fraction of a degree of warming lengthens the odds against not just peace but humanity's very survival. This year is also the year that the United Nations has declared as the 'International Year for Glaciers' Preservation', a year of awareness raising of the need for action to preserve our glaciers. In March, policymakers, academics, and other experts gathered all around the world to mark the first-ever UN World Day for Glaciers; at the just-concluded Dushanbe International Conference on Glaciers' Preservation, Tajikistan, one of the most glacier-rich countries in the world, leaders had the opportunity to emphasise their commitment to action. This year also marks 10 years since the Paris Agreement, by which countries had committed to limiting warming to 1.5°C above pre-industrial times. Holding warming at this level is the only way to limit glacier loss. So far, we are failing to meet this important goal. Asia is disproportionately exposed to the losses of the Earth's snow and ice. However, the good news is that Asia, due to its contribution of over 50% of the world's greenhouse gas emissions, is uniquely placed to safeguard its own economies, populations, and ecosystems — not to mention the future of humanity, by decarbonising its economies, and accelerating the green transition. It can formalise this through the nationally determined contributions for the UN climate conference (COP30) to be held in Brazil this November. This is the year that we must turn our emissions around. Ultimately, when people in the future reflect on this age, I hope that they will note that we have been focusing on the right issues. And perhaps, when they look back, they will look to this year, and to Asia, and see that this was the time and place when change started to move in the right direction. John Pomeroy is co-chair of the UN Advisory Board for the International Year for Glaciers' Preservation - 2025 UNESCO Chair in Mountain Water Sustainability, and director of the Global Water Futures Programme at the University of Saskatchewan, Canada. The views expressed are personal
Yahoo
21-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Electricity demand expected to jump by more than 75% by 2050, report says
A dramatic demand for electricity, coupled with a rise in costs, could create massive energy challenges for the United States over the next two decades, a new report released Tuesday by ICF found. The global consulting and technology services company predicted that electricity demand could jump at least 25% in the next five years and as much as 78% by 2050 — findings that far outpace historical trends over the past two decades. Such growth could have a significant impact on both the reliability and affordability of electricity, the report said. Retail costs are also expected to rise; by 2050, costs passed onto the consumer could double, ICF found. "This is a pivotal moment as rising demand creates urgent challenges for the grid," said Anne Choate, ICF executive vice president for energy, environment and infrastructure in a statement. The U.S. could struggle with increased electricity demand due to rising temperatures and the growing use of emerging technologies, bearing down on an overloaded system. The report found that in Texas, nearly one-third of the expected increase is attributable to large load sources, such as cryptocurrency mining operations. Data centers, building electrification and semiconductor manufacturing, along with electric vehicles, account for 35% of the projected load through 2040 in 13 mid-Atlantic and Midwest states as well as Washington, D.C. Electric grid operators across the U.S. have been sounding the alarm in advance of elevated summer temperatures after record-breaking heat last year. The World Meteorological Organization said in its annual State of the Global Climate report that 2024 set a new global temperature record, averaging over 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels. The National Weather Service released a report last week predicting hotter-than-normal temperatures across the United States from June through August. PJM, one of the country's largest electric grid operators, serving 67 million people in states including North Carolina, Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Michigan, warned customers in a news release that the system will be experience a high peak demand this summer. "This outlook at a record peak heat scenario reflects our years-long and mounting concerns as we plan for enough resources to maintain grid reliability," said Aftab Khan, PJM's executive vice president of Operations, Planning & Security, in a statement. The operator stressed it had adequate resources to respond to the demand and said it is planning for unusual scenarios and will react to them to "protect the electricity supply." Electricity costs are also expected to rise and outpace inflation, with experts predicting a jump of 6% in 2025 — an average of $784 per household for the summer period. That would mark a 12-year record, according to a new analysis from the National Energy Assistance Directors Association. Households are not only expected to have to pay higher prices for electricity, they will likely consume more of it than they did last summer because of the need for more cooling. NEADA Executive Director Mark Wolfe told CBS News' MoneyWatch, "when electricity prices go up, they tend to stay high. " Watch: DHS Secretary Kristi Noem asked what habeas corpus is in Senate hearing Rubio interrupted at Senate hearing during remarks on changes at State Department Car bomb outside Palm Springs fertility clinic was act of terrorism, officials say
Hindustan Times
08-05-2025
- Science
- Hindustan Times
April 2025 becomes second warmest on record, says EU climate agency
April 2025 was the second warmest month on record, and it was also the 21st time in the last 22 months that the average global surface air temperature was more than 1.5°C above the monthly pre-industrial level, the European Union's (EU) Copernicus Climate Change Service said on Thursday. April was 1.51°C above the estimated 1850-1900 average used to define the pre-industrial level. (AFP file photo) It was also the second-warmest April globally, with an average surface air temperature of 14.96°C, 0.60°C above the 1991-2020 average for April. April was 1.51°C above the estimated 1850-1900 average used to define the pre-industrial level. The 12-month period of May 2024 – April 2025 was 0.70°C above the 1991-2020 average, and 1.58°C above the pre-industrial level. 'Globally, April 2025 was the second-hottest April on record, continuing the long sequence of months over 1.5°C above pre-industrial. Continuous climate monitoring is an essential tool for understanding and responding to the ongoing changes of our climate system,' said Samantha Burgess, Strategic Lead for Climate at European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF). Also Read: March 2025 second warmest on record, says EU climate agency Temperatures were predominantly above average across Europe, with the largest warm anomalies recorded over eastern Europe, western Russia, Kazakhstan, and Norway, while colder-than-average temperatures occurred across Türkiye, eastern parts of Bulgaria and Romania, the Crimean Peninsula, and northern Fennoscandia. Outside Europe, temperatures were most above average over the Russian Far East and in a large part of west-central Asia. They were also above average over most of North America, part of Australia, and across the Antarctic Peninsula and West Antarctica. The average sea surface temperature (SST) for April was the second highest on record for the month, 0.15°C below the April 2024 record. SSTs remained unusually high in many ocean basins and seas. Among them, large areas in the northeast North Atlantic continued to show record-high SSTs for the month. Most of the Mediterranean Sea was also much warmer than average. Arctic sea ice extent was 3% below average, the sixth lowest monthly extent for April in the 47-year satellite record. Antarctic sea ice extent was 10% below average, making it the 10th lowest on record for the month. Overall surface temperature data shows temperatures have come down compared to last year but not substantially. Long-term global warming is currently estimated to be between 1.34 and 1.41°C compared to pre-industrial levels, the World Meteorological Organisation's State of the Global Climate report said in March. 'The issue is we currently do not have an agreed mechanism to monitor global temperature rise in the context of the Paris Agreement goals. For example, which data set to go by, how do we define warming-- surface temperature or air temperature, there are number of questions around this. So how quickly we will breach the 1.5°C goal is difficult to answer. In 2023-2024 temperatures have been higher than expected compared to background warming. It's being studied if this is a result of reduction in aerosols from certain sectors,' a WMO expert said during a technical briefing on the report. The Paris Agreement sets long-term goals to guide all nations to substantially reduce global greenhouse gas emissions to limit the global temperature increase in this century to 2°C while pursuing efforts to limit the increase even further to 1.5°C, to avoid or reduce adverse impacts and related losses and damages.
Daily Mail
29-04-2025
- Politics
- Daily Mail
Tony Blair says Net Zero push has become 'irrational' and 'hysterical' and warns critics of green energy costs must not be dismissed as 'climate deniers'
The climate change debate has become riven with 'irrationality' and 'hysteria' and needs a pragmatic reset to win over voters, Tony Blair warns today. The former Labour prime minister said that while most people in developed countries like the UK believe it is real they are turning away from the politics because of the sacrifices they are being asked to make. In a forward to a new report by his Institute for Global Change he said there needs to be a switch from 'protest to pragmatic policy' because 'the current approach isn't working'. He questioned the Net Zero move to phase out fossil fuels, pointing out that their use is increasing, not falling, and due to predicted energy demand, especially in the developing world, that would continue. 'These are the inconvenient facts, which mean that any strategy based on either ''phasing out'' fossil fuels in the short term or limiting consumption is a strategy doomed to fail,' he wrote. 'Political leaders by and large know that the debate has become irrational. But they're terrified of saying so, for fear of being accused of being ''climate deniers''. 'As ever, when sensible people don't speak up about the way a campaign is being conducted, the campaign stays in the hands of those who end up alienating the very opinion on which consent for action depends'. Despite having been an adviser to COP host Azerbaijan last year, he also criticised the annual UN climate summits as 'a forum that frankly doesn't have the heft to drive action and impact.' The report, The Climate Paradox: Why We Need to Reset Action on Climate Change, argues that climate action has reached an 'impasse' just as the crisis escalates. In March the UN's World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) confirmed 2024 as the hottest year on record as it released its flagship State of the Global Climate report. The agency said global average temperatures hit around 1.55C above pre-industrial levels, outstripping even the record heat of 2023. Scientists said this was mainly driven by the ongoing rise in planet-heating emissions but was also coupled with the warming El Nino weather phenomenon in the Pacific. Earlier this month a major annual report showed Europe is the fastest-warming continent in the world. Storms were often severe and flooding was the most widespread since 2013, claiming at least 335 lives and affecting around 413,000 people. Author Lindy Fursman wrote that Net Zero polities 'are increasingly viewed as unaffordable, ineffective, or politically toxic'. 'The current climate debate is broken. Public confidence in policies to reduce emissions and spark green growth is waning, exacerbated by the fact that many of the promised benefits of past climate policies have failed to materialise,' she said. 'Proposed green policies that suggest limiting meat consumption or reducing air travel have alienated many people rather than bringing them along. 'This failure to deliver has created an opening for populists who exploit public scepticism and frame climate action as an elite-driven agenda. 'The result? Political will is receding just as the crisis accelerates. 'Governments are backtracking, businesses are dropping climate targets and voters are electing leaders who deprioritise the planet's future. The crisis is here, but action is stalling.'
Yahoo
02-04-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Scientists reveal unexpected cause of change in massive glacier: 'We should be concerned about this'
Scientists from Norway and the United States have discovered an unexpected cause behind the melting of Europe's third largest glacier, known as Austfonna — meaning "eastern ice cap." Their findings explain why the glacier has been shrinking even when it has been cold outside. Austfonna is an ice cap, a domed glacier flowing outward in every direction. This one currently covers a huge portion of Nordaustlandet, an island that is part of the Norwegian archipelago of Svalbard. Austfonna is retreating — or melting — and a team of scientists wanted to understand why. Researchers from the Norwegian Polar Institute, the Bjerknes Centre for Climate Research, the University of Oregon, and at least three Norwegian universities have discovered that warming ocean waters — rather than simply the warming atmosphere — have been a main cause behind the melting of the glacier front. This explains why Austfonna has melted even during some of the colder and darker days in the Arctic. "Ocean temperature controls the observed frontal ablation," the team wrote in a study recently published in the journal Nature Communications. The co-authors continued, "The immediate response of frontal ablation to seasonal ocean warming suggests that marine-terminating glaciers in high Arctic regions exposed to Atlantification are prone to rapid changes that should be accounted for in future glacier projections." "Atlantification" describes the warming of Arctic Ocean waters. Whereas a warming atmosphere was previously "thought to have a major effect on melting," the Barents Observer noted this new study's significance in underscoring the real impacts of ocean warming on glacier mass loss. "The warm ocean retains energy better than the atmosphere. That's something we've found — that the ocean can stay warm well into autumn, cause melting and calving of glacier fronts," study co-author Geir Moholdt told the Barents Observer. "We should be concerned about this because glacier mass loss happens all over the world." Glacier melting is a driver of sea level rise, the rate of which has "doubled since satellite measurements began," according to the World Meteorological Organization's latest State of the Global Climate report. Rising sea levels are eroding land and threatening communities in the Arctic. Sea level rise also poses great risks to U.S. coastlines and coastlines everywhere, with residents increasingly vulnerable to storm surges and flooding. Do you worry about air pollution in and around your home? Yes — always Yes — often Yes — sometimes No — never Click your choice to see results and speak your mind. The root cause of glacier melting is a build-up of heat-trapping gases in Earth's atmosphere. Transitioning to renewable energy sources and away from dirty energy can help mitigate the crisis and its effects. Making your next car purchase an electric vehicle — new or used — could help reduce the abundance of carbon pollution that warms our planet. Modernizing your home with the installation of solar panels or a heat pump can also meaningfully curb harmful emissions. Join our free newsletter for good news and useful tips, and don't miss this cool list of easy ways to help yourself while helping the planet.
