For the first time on 21 March, we are celebrating the World Day for Glaciers dedicated to the critical role they play for life on Earth! This international campaign aims to raise awareness about the negative impacts of climate change on glaciers and permafrost.
Alpine glaciers are undergoing significant transformations. Water availability, ecosystems, and human safety are all affected by their retreat as a result of global warming. Glaciers are also essential beyond the Alpine region due to their importance as water storage for downstream agriculture, energy production, and human consumption. The risk of melting represents a major threat to our basic activities and services, leading to instability and insecurity across the Alps and beyond.
Furthermore, the retreat of glaciers and the thawing of permafrost are creating new landscapes that face risks from natural disasters, including landslides and glacier lake outburst floods. These developments also represent a danger for local communities and infrastructure.
For this reason, the United Nations called for concrete measures to protect glaciers and designated 2025 as the International Year of Glaciers' Conservation to raise awareness.
One of the most important Alpine contributions to this topic will be the Eleventh Report on the State of the Alps (RSA 11) being prepared under the Italian Presidency. The XVIII Alpine Conference tasked an ad hoc Working Group with elaborating the RSA 11 to tackle this issue at a cross-border scale. The working group will prepare an overview of the status of glaciers in the Alpine countries and explore the consequences of glacier retreat and permafrost thaw for the Alpine environment and life in the Alps, including the effects on the water cycle.
The Alpine Convention is also partner in an international public awareness campaign led by the University of Innsbruck titled ‘Goodbye glaciers!?’. The initiative aims to engage the public and communicate which glaciers — particularly in Central Europe — are expected to vanish in the coming decades and which might still be preserved by reducing greenhouse gas emissions, and thus, limiting global warming.
All over the world, the protection of glaciers is not merely a scientific or environmental concern; it is fundamental for ensuring long-term resilience and safety of the downstream communities.
