By consensus of the 193 member states and territories of the World Meteorological Organization in Geneva, the Organization has made the cryosphere one of its highest priorities, given the growing impacts of shrinking sea ice, melting glaciers, ice caps, permafrost and snow on the sea. sea level rise and risks to water, water security, economies and ecosystems.
It was during the World Meteorological Congress, the highest decision-making body of the Organization (WMO), which was held from May 22 to June 2 in Geneva, Switzerland, and focused on ways to cope to the aggravation of the consequences of global warming, in particular on the security of the water world, which affects sea ice, glaciers and polar ice.
The conference decided to call for more coordinated studies and forecasts, exchange of data, research and services, and increased activities among member states, with increased funding from and outside the budgets .
“The issue of the cryosphere is a hot topic not just for the polar regions, but a global issue,” WMO Secretary-General Petteri Taalas said in a statement.
Delegates from around the world expressed their concern about the impact of what is happening in the polar regions and high mountain regions on the whole world, especially small island states and densely populated coastal areas.
A billion people are at risk
The spokeswoman for the World Meteorological Organization pointed out, by way of example, that more than a billion people depend on water from melting snow and glaciers, and when these rivers disappear: “Think what will happen to the security of the water supply for these people,” as she put it.
Environmental experts warn that it is too late and perhaps too late, and that the United Nations must seek to impose strict and binding environmental programs and policies around the world, taking into account the protection of the environmental and natural balance and the transition to renewable energy, so as to mitigate the impact of the worsening climate change disaster on the water and food security of the population.
Ayman Qaddouri, environmental expert and member of the International Union for Conservation of Nature, said in an interview with Sky News Arabia:
– This international call to deal with the consequences of climate change, which affects the sea ice zone in the Arctic, is too late, especially after the sea ice has lost almost 70% of its surface in the last two decades .
– The last five years have been the most difficult in relation to the increase in the severity of the impact of climate change and the acceleration of its processes, and this has been proven by scientific studies in Europe, especially in Sweden and in Norway.
Melting sea ice in the Arctic threatens the water security of all northern European countries, as 60-70% of northern Europeans depend on melting sea ice to provide water. water to their waterways, and therefore this melting will initially create a long term scarcity of fresh water. The thaw is expected to coincide with droughts and low rainfall winters.
Alarming pace
– According to a study published in the journal Nature Communications in 2020, the Arctic lost about 45 billion tons of ice, in each of the years between 2000-2010, then the rate of melting increased in the following decade, bringing the level of melting to 52 billion tons of ice per year, each of the years between 2010 and 2020.
– This accelerated melting has contributed to a sea level rise of about 3.5 centimeters, and this conclusion, comparing climate records for the region, notes that the reason for the accelerated melting is the increase in temperature of the region by about 9 degrees Celsius, compared to the pre-industrial era.
Serious repercussions
– Thus, the situation in which the ice of the North and South Poles has reached, now portends the imminence of environmental disasters that lead to the disappearance of low-lying coastal towns that have been placed on the drowning list by the end of the present century, more particularly Amsterdam, the capital of the Netherlands, and California in America and Basra in Iraq.
In terms of countries at risk of drowning, Japan and small island states top the list, a natural consequence of rising sea levels when polar ice melts to 25-45 centimeters by the year 2100.
What are the solutions ?
There is no way to try to remedy the realization of these catastrophic scenarios, except by addressing the causes of climate change, the most important of which is the abandonment of traditional energy sources and the transition to a clean energy, as well as the initiation of treatment of the effects of climate change and the restoration and extension of green spaces, in order to work in turn for the urgent recovery of the Earth’s climate.
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