Nearly half of the glaciers in World Heritage sites will disappear by the end of this century if greenhouse gas emissions continue unchecked, according to a study the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) focused on the 46 World Heritage sites where glaciers are found.
The authors predict “glacier extinction by 2100 under a high emission scenario in 21 of the 46 natural World Heritage sites where glaciers are currently found,” IUCN said in a statement.
Sites likely to see the most severe ice-loss are Los Glaciares National Park in Argentina and Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park, which straddles the Alberta-Montana border.
Twelve North American conservation groups from the U.S. and Canada petitioned the World Heritage Committee to add Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park to the list of World Heritage Sites in danger due to impacts from climate change.
Climate change is causing rapid disappearance of the park’s glaciers and significant damage to the park’s vegetation and wildlife, according to the Center for Biological Diversity.
Glacier National Park once was home to approximately 150 glaciers, but only 27 remained as of 2006, and those are rapidly melting, according to CBD. Global warming is responsible for the disappearance of the park’s iconic glaciers.
“The glaciers that Glacier National Park was named for will vanish entirely by 2030 if current climate change trends continue,” said Kassie Siegel of CBD.
The Alps, Europe’s famous mountain range, still loom over the continent, but warming temperatures are taking a toll. Glaciers in The Alps are receding and plant life is changing as lowland species gain a foothold.
A drunken forest may sound like something out of a “Harry Potter” book, but it is a change caused by rising temperatures. As permafrost, the layer of permanently frozen ground, disappears in Alaska, trees begin to tilt. “There are forests that are leaning like a hurricane blew them. They look like they’ve had too much to drink,” says Mike Gunter Jr., a professor at Rollins College in Winter Park, Florida.