Often people connote retreating glaciers with distant oceans that surround icy, desolate and snowy landscapes such as the Arctic and Antarctic circle. However, the impacts may be felt slightly closer to home if we don’t act.
In October 2024, the devastating floods that hit Valencia in Spain made international headlines of “killing hundreds of civilians, impacting hundreds of thousands of hectares, and ruining peoples’ homes and livelihoods.” Although, some scientists are still debating how much global warming impacted the speed of the passing storm that primarily contributed to this disastrous event, in addition to other factors such as poor water infrastructure, and water relief systems.
Scientists are, however, in agreement that global warming is impacting on glacier runoff, and it is likely to have similar consequences as those felt in Spain in October 2024, on communities around the world.
Furthermore, what may surprise you is that countries as close as Italy, Austria, Norway, Iceland, Switzerland, Spain and even France to name a few, also have glaciers lying in wait. Also people often overlook the fact that a huge area of South America also consists of glacier fields. According to ‘The Ecologist’, there are current studies which show how communities in countries such as Peru (which has lost up to 50% of its glacial ice in the past forty years), are having to relocate due to their water supplies, being affected as a result of flooding caused by the rapid retreat of glaciers, and the excess surface runoff impacting their water sanitation.
Likewise, thousands of miles away, ‘The Ecologist’ also explains how nearly a third of the world’s population, based in South Asia, depend on Himalayan glaciers for agriculture, drinking water and energy.
With glaciers retreating, communities across the world, and very close to home, could soon feel the impacts of water scarcity, as weather systems are affected, water control systems are overloaded, the clean glacier drinking water, which drips and flows slowly down a mountain into our tap or plastic bottle, may be at risk.