The effects of global warming on mountain ranges worldwide. Lets know more!

A recent UNESCO study found that the world's mountain ranges are changing quickly and primarily permanently due to rising temperatures. Permafrost is thawing more quickly, snow cover has decreased, precipitation patterns have become more unpredictable, glaciers are melting more quickly, and higher elevations seem to be warming faster than lower elevations in several places.

In honor of the inaugural World Day for Glaciers, "The United Nations World Water Development Report 2025 – Mountains and glaciers: Water towers" was released on Friday, March 21.

GLACIER MELTING: Glaciers are melting faster than ever before, as evidenced by the largest loss of glacial mass on record over the last three years. Scientists measure a glacier's health by counting the amount of snow that falls on it and the amount of melt that occurs each year, according to the World Glacier Monitoring Service (WGMS).

Since 1975, glaciers have lost more than 9,000 billion tons of material, excluding the Antarctic and Greenland ice sheets. This is equivalent to an enormous block of ice the size of

Germany has a 25-meter thickness, according to Michael Zemp, director of the Swiss-based World Glacier Monitoring Service, who made the announcement at a news conference on Friday.

Since 1975, the mass of glaciers—aside from the Antarctic and Greenland ice sheets—has dropped by more than 9,000 billion tons. That is equivalent to an enormous block of ice the size of

At a news conference on Friday, Michael Zemp, director of the Switzerland-based World Glacier Monitoring Service, said Germany had a 25-meter thickness.

Furthermore, he noted that five of the preceding six years had the largest losses, with glaciers losing 450 gigatons of ice in 2024 alone. Last year saw the greatest annual mass loss of glaciers in North Asia, Scandinavia, and the Norwegian archipelago of Svalbard.

Permafrost is any ground that stays frozen at 0 degrees Celsius or lower for at least two years. Permafrost may cover a significant amount of the terrain in high-altitude regions. However, warming temperatures are causing permafrost to melt rapidly in some places. This is an issue because permafrost contains a lot of organic carbon and other nutrients. Approximately 4.5% of the world's soil organic carbon is found in permafrost-covered mountain soils, according to the UNESCO report. When the permafrost thaws, this organic carbon is released into the atmosphere, hastening climate change.

Permafrost also stabilizes rock slopes, debris-covered slopes, and moraines—material left behind by a moving glacier—in mountainous regions.

SNOW COVER DECLINE: According to UNESCO research, snow cover has declined in practically all mountain regions, especially during the spring and summer, and is expected to keep declining over the coming decades. Snow cover is the total amount of snow and ice on the ground. Included are snow that hasn't melted and previously accumulated ice as well as fresh snow.

A study published in the journal Nature in November 2024 and titled "Uneven worldwide retreat of persistent mountain snow cover accompanied mountain warming from ERA5-land" found that the global mean loss of persistent snow cover between 1979 and 2022 was a significant 7.79%.

ERRATIC SNOWFALL PATTERNS: The height at which precipitation transforms into snowfall is rising due to atmospheric warming.

In some mountain ranges, it has also been observed that a greater proportion of precipitation falls as rain as opposed to snow. There has been less snow, snow is melting earlier than normal, and the snow-covered area has shrunk.

Why is this important?

The continuation of life depends on the 33 million square kilometers of mountains that comprise the Earth's surface. For instance, mountains in the downstream region supply nearly 2 billion people with freshwater from melting glaciers. These people could suffer greatly from the current rate of glacier melting caused by climate change.

Permafrost thawing and glacier melting further increase the risk of glacial lake outburst floods (GLOFs). GLOFs are sudden, catastrophic floods caused by the failure of natural dams, usually formed of ice or glacial moraines that enclose glacial lakes. These floods "have caused serious damage to farms, homes, bridges, roads, hydropower facilities, and have resulted in more than 12,000 deaths in the past 200 years, often prompting further internal relocation," according to the paper.

According to WGMS, melted glacier ice is responsible for 25–30% of the current observed rise in global sea levels. Globally, 335 billion tonnes of glacier ice were lost every year between 2006 and 2016.