One day ahead of World Water Day, today marks the very first celebration of World Glaciers Day, established by the United Nations starting from 2025 to raise public awareness of the importance of these vast freshwater reserves and the urgent need to protect them. From climate change, which is rapidly reducing glacier volumes across the world, but also, for instance, from human activity itself.

The crucial role of glaciers

World Meteorological Organization @WMO

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Today marks the FIRST-EVER #WorldGlaciersDay!

Glaciers are sensitive indicators of climate change and are retreating globally due to rising temperatures. Now is the time for BOLD #ClimateAction.

🔗un-glaciers.org/en

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Glaciers cover approximately 10 per cent of the Earth's surface and represent the planet's primary freshwater reserve, storing as much as 69 per cent of it. In addition to supplying drinking water to billions of people, they feed rivers and lakes, sustaining agriculture, hydroelectric energy production and biodiversity. In short, their presence is fundamental to maintaining climatic and environmental equilibria. In recent decades, however, glaciers have undergone a drastic reduction due to rising global temperatures. According to the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), since 1975, non-Antarctic and non-Greenlandic glaciers have lost more than 9,000 billion tonnes of glacial mass, equivalent to a block of ice the size of Germany and 25 metres thick. This melting is accelerating sea-level rise, putting coastal communities and marine ecosystems at risk.

Greenpeace Italia @Greenpeace_ITA

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A causa della crisi climatica, entro il 2100 in Italia potremmo rimanere con solo 75 ghiacciai (dei 579 attuali). Le perdite idriche sarebbero drammatiche per le persone e gli habitat naturali. Leggi il nostro report👇 act.gp/declino-ghiacc…

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And the forecasts for the future are equally alarming. According to Unesco, without a significant reduction in greenhouse gas emissions, half of the world's glaciers could disappear by 2100. In Italy, a Greenpeace study predicts that, without concrete action, almost half (48.5 per cent) of the current glacial surface area will be lost by 2050, while by 2100 as much as 94 per cent of Italy's Alpine glaciers could disappear — glaciers that are already in poor condition today.

What can be done to conserve glaciers

In direct response to this crisis, the United Nations declared 2025 the International Year of Glacier Conservation, with the aim of promoting international cooperation in the protection of these vital resources. In Italy, various initiatives are under way to monitor and preserve glaciers. In Piemonte, for example, Arpa has published data on the 2023/2024 hydrological year, highlighting the importance of continuous monitoring in order to understand how regional glaciers are evolving. In Trentino, information boards have been installed and a dedicated centre has been created for the Careser glacier to raise public awareness of its protection.

The first World Glaciers Day therefore represents a crucial moment to reflect on the importance of these natural resources and on the urgency of adopting concrete measures for their conservation. First and foremost, this means reducing greenhouse gas emissions: according to a recent study published in Science, nearly half — 104,000 to be precise — of the world's currently existing glaciers will disappear entirely even if global warming does not exceed 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels by the end of the century. Beyond that, it means implementing adaptation strategies that guarantee the survival of glaciers and the safety of the populations that depend on them.