Worldwide glacier melting can't be prevented in this century: Study

(Representational image)

New Delhi: Even if all the emissions are curtailed, the further melting of glaciers worldwide cannot be prevented in this century, a study has found.

The study, published in the journal Nature Climate Change, also stated that human activity will have a be massively impacted beyond the 21st century due to the slow reaction of glaciers to climate change.

According to researchers, 500 meters by car with a mid-range vehicle will cost one kilogram of glacier ice in the long run.

As per the terms of the Paris climate accord, 195 member states of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change are required to restrict the rise in global average temperature to significantly below two degrees Celsius.

Researchers at The University of Bremen in Germany and the University of Innsbruck in Austria calculated the effects of compliance with these climate goals on the progressive melting of glaciers.

"Melting glaciers have a huge influence on the development of sea level rise," said Georg Kaser from the University of Innsbruck.

"In our calculations, we took into account all glaciers worldwide - without the Antarctic and Greenland ice sheets and peripheral glaciers - and modeled them in various climate scenarios," said Kaser.

One kilogram of CO2 emitted costs 15 kilograms of glacier ice, said researchers.

Whether the average temperature rises by 2 or only 1.5 degrees Celsius makes no significant difference for the development of glacier mass loss over the next 100 years, they said.

"Around 36 percent of the ice still stored in glaciers today would melt even without further emissions of greenhouse gases," said Ben Marzeion, also from the University of Innsbruck.

"That means more than a third of the glacier ice that still exists today in mountain glaciers can no longer be saved, even with the most ambitious measures," said Marzeion.

However, looking beyond the current century, it does make a difference whether the 2 or 1.5 degrees Celsius goal is achieved, researchers said.

(With PTI inputs)