Geneva, December 17, 2025 (Agencies) – A new scientific study has warned that the world could lose thousands of glaciers annually by the middle of this century unless governments take urgent action to curb global warming.
Published Monday in Nature Climate Change, the report projects that the planet may reach a stage of “peak glacier extinction” by midcentury, with up to 4,000 glaciers melting each year if temperatures rise unchecked. Currently, about 750 glaciers disappear annually out of the estimated 200,000 worldwide.
If global temperatures climb by 4 degrees Celsius (7.2 degrees Fahrenheit) above pre-industrial levels, the study predicts only 18,288 glaciers would remain by 2100, a dramatic reduction from today’s numbers. Even under the Paris Agreement’s target of limiting warming to 1.5C (2.7F), the world could still lose 2,000 glaciers per year by 2041, leaving just over half intact by the end of the century.
The United Nations Environment Programme has already cautioned that warming is on track to exceed 1.5C within the next few years, with current pledges likely resulting in a rise of 2.3C to 2.5C (4.1F to 4.5F) by 2100.
The study was released at the close of the UN’s International Year of Glacier Preservation, intended to underscore the urgency of ambitious climate policy. “The difference between losing 2,000 and 4,000 glaciers per year by the middle of the century is determined by near-term policies and societal decisions taken today,” the authors wrote.
Coauthor Matthias Huss, a glacier expert at ETH Zurich, emphasized the emotional weight of the findings. Huss, who took part in a symbolic funeral for Switzerland’s Pizol glacier in 2019, said: “The loss of glaciers that we are speaking about here is more than just a scientific concern. It really touches our hearts.”