World's Glaciers are Losing Record Ice as Global Temperatures Climb, UN Says

(FILES) Alpinists climb the "Voie royale", way to go to the Mont-Blanc to the top of the glacier of Tete Rousse, a 3.200 meter peak in the French Alps, on June 30, 2011. (Photo by JEAN-PIERRE CLATOT / AFP)
(FILES) Alpinists climb the "Voie royale", way to go to the Mont-Blanc to the top of the glacier of Tete Rousse, a 3.200 meter peak in the French Alps, on June 30, 2011. (Photo by JEAN-PIERRE CLATOT / AFP)
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World's Glaciers are Losing Record Ice as Global Temperatures Climb, UN Says

(FILES) Alpinists climb the "Voie royale", way to go to the Mont-Blanc to the top of the glacier of Tete Rousse, a 3.200 meter peak in the French Alps, on June 30, 2011. (Photo by JEAN-PIERRE CLATOT / AFP)
(FILES) Alpinists climb the "Voie royale", way to go to the Mont-Blanc to the top of the glacier of Tete Rousse, a 3.200 meter peak in the French Alps, on June 30, 2011. (Photo by JEAN-PIERRE CLATOT / AFP)

Glaciers around the globe are disappearing faster than ever, with the last three-year period seeing the largest glacial mass loss on record, according to a UNESCO report released on Friday.

The 9,000 gigatons of ice lost from glaciers since 1975 are roughly equivalent to "an ice block the size of Germany with the thickness of 25 meters," Michael Zemp, director of the Switzerland-based World Glacier Monitoring Service, said during a press conference announcing the report at the UN headquarters in Geneva.

The dramatic ice loss, from the Arctic to the Alps, from South America to the Tibetan Plateau, is expected to accelerate as climate change, caused by the burning of fossil fuels, pushes global temperatures higher. This would likely exacerbate economic, environmental and social problems across the world as sea levels rise and these key water sources dwindle.

The report coincides with a UNESCO summit in Paris marking the first World Day for Glaciers, urging global action to protect glaciers around the world, Reuters said.

Zemp said that five of the last six years registered the largest losses, with glaciers losing 450 gigatons of mass in 2024 alone.

The accelerated loss has made mountain glaciers one of the largest contributors to sea level rise, putting millions at risk of devastating floods and damaging water routes that billions of people depend on for hydroelectric energy and agriculture.

Stefan Uhlenbrook, the director of water and cryosphere at the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), said that about 275,000 glaciers remain globally which, along with the Antarctic and Greenland ice sheets, comprise about 70% of the world's freshwater.

"We need to advance our scientific knowledge, we need to advance through better observing systems, through better forecasts and better early warning systems for the planet and the people," Uhlenbrook said.

DANGERS AND DEITIES

About 1.1 billion people live in mountain communities, which suffer the most immediate impacts of glacier loss, due to the increasing risks with natural hazards and unreliable water sources. The remote locations and difficult terrains also make cheap fixes difficult to come by.

Rising temperatures are expected to worsen droughts in areas that rely on snowpack for freshwater, while increasing both the severity and frequency of hazards like avalanches, landslides, flash floods and glacial lake outburst floods (GLOFs).

One Peruvian farmer living downstream of a retreating glacier has taken the issue to court, suing German energy giant RWE for a portion of the glacial lake's flood defenses proportionate to its historic global emissions.

"The changes we see in the field are literally heartbreaking," glaciologist Heidi Sevestre, secretariat at the Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Program, told Reuters outside the UNESCO headquarters in Paris on Wednesday.

"Things in certain regions are happening actually much faster than we anticipated," Sevestre added, noting a recent trip to the Rwenzori Mountains, located in Uganda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo in East Africa, where glaciers are now expected to disappear by 2030.

Sevestre has worked with the region's indigenous Bakonzo communities who believe a deity called Kitasamba lives in the glaciers.

"Can you imagine the deep spiritual connection, this strong attachment they have towards the glaciers and what it might mean for them that their glaciers are disappearing?" Sevestre said.

Glacial melt in East Africa has led to increased local conflicts over water, according to the new UNESCO report, and while the impact on a global scale is minimal, the trickle of melting glaciers around the world is having a compounding impact.

Between 2000 and 2023, melting mountain glaciers have caused 18 millimeters of global sea level rise, about 1 mm per year. Every millimeter can expose up to 300,000 people to annual flooding, according to the World Glacier Monitoring Service.

"Billions of people are connected to glaciers, whether they know it or not, and that will require billions of people to protect them," Sevestre said.



Elevator at Obelisk Offers Breathtaking View of Buenos Aires

Aerial view showing a man looking down from the Obelisk observation deck in Buenos Aires on May 8, 2025. (Photo by LUIS ROBAYO / AFP)
Aerial view showing a man looking down from the Obelisk observation deck in Buenos Aires on May 8, 2025. (Photo by LUIS ROBAYO / AFP)
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Elevator at Obelisk Offers Breathtaking View of Buenos Aires

Aerial view showing a man looking down from the Obelisk observation deck in Buenos Aires on May 8, 2025. (Photo by LUIS ROBAYO / AFP)
Aerial view showing a man looking down from the Obelisk observation deck in Buenos Aires on May 8, 2025. (Photo by LUIS ROBAYO / AFP)

The famous Obelisk in Buenos Aires Obelisk now offers a breathtaking new perspective. With the addition of an elevator, visitors can ascend this iconic monument to have panoramic views of the vibrant city below.

Quoting Architect Juan Vacas, AFP said the 67.5-meter-tall Obelisk was erected in 1936, and stands at the intersection of Corrientes Street, renowned for its dynamic theater scene, and Avenida 9 de Julio, which according to tourist guides is the widest avenue in the world.

Vacas describes the monument as “the heart of Buenos Aires.”

The Obelisk witnessed pivotal events in Argentina’s history, including Raul Alfonsin's historic 1983 presidential campaign and a tribute for football legend Diego Maradona in 2020.

Recently, the Obelisk was illuminated with the image of late Pope Francis.

During the 2022 World Cup, millions gathered around the city’s Obelisk where pictures of the players were projected. Some fans broke its doors and climbed to the top through service stairs.

The elevator rises the equivalent of twenty floors in just 55 seconds, although visitors must still climb 35 steps to reach the viewing platform, from where visitors can see Rio de la Plata.

This tourism project, completed recently, was “a major challenge for architects” as all materials had to be brought in through a narrow door.

“The entire system was prefabricated, meticulously assembled and reassembled within the Obelisk's narrow space,” noted Vacas.

Currently in a trial phase, the elevator has attracted 25,000 eager people for early access, the municipality said in a statement on its Instagram account.