Shocking report finds more than a dozen famous sites will lose their glaciers by 2050

Going, going, gone Mount Kilimanjaro, Yosemite, the Dolomites, and more. by Jennifer Walter Updated: Feb. 20, 2024 Originally Published: November 4, 2022 hadynyah/E+/Getty Images

Westend61/Westend61/Getty Images It’s normal for glaciers to melt. But the rate at which they’re losing ice has been alarmingly high over the past few decades.

In fact, many of the world’s famous glaciers are on track to disappear by 2050. A new report from UNESCO predicts that glaciers will completely vanish from more than a dozen World Heritage sites in the next three decades. Westend61/Westend61/Getty Images

The other two-thirds will continue to see their glaciers melt rapidly if global warming continues to intensify.

jacquesvandinteren/iStock Unreleased/Getty Images In total, one-third of World Heritage sites with glaciers will lose them in 30 years or less.

Global warming is clearly linked to accelerated glacier melt — and causes a cascade of negative effects on surrounding ecosystems.

MathieuRivrin/Moment/Getty Images

For example, excess meltwater causes sea levels to rise and also depletes accessible freshwater resources for communities that rely on them.

Nahomi Rivas / EyeEm/EyeEm/Getty Images

Shutterstock Even if countries severely limit their greenhouse gas emissions today, the UNESCO researchers say that one-third of the World Heritage site glaciers cannot be saved at this point.

Douglas Sacha/Moment/Getty Images But they do say it’s possible to preserve the other two-thirds. That is if countries take robust action to keep global warming from climbing higher than 1.5 degrees Celcius compared to pre-industrial levels.

Boy_Anupong/Moment/Getty Images Here are 10 famous sites at risk of losing their glaciers:

10. Kilimanjaro National Park All glaciers atop the tallest mountain in Africa — and across the continent as a whole — will most likely vanish by 2050, UNESCO predicts. hadynyah/E+/Getty Images

9. Three Parallel Rivers of Yunnan Protected Areas Glaciers at this site in Yunnan province, China, are melting at a rate faster than those at any other World Heritage site. They have lost over 50 percent of their mass since 2000. Leisa Tyler/LightRocket/Getty Images

8. The Dolomites Accelerated melt will likely claim the last of the glaciers atop Italy’s Dolomites in the next 30 years. Westend61/Westend61/Getty Images

7. Yosemite National Park A similar fate — the complete disappearance of glaciers — will likely befall this iconic American National Park by 2050. Wilson Tan / EyeEm/EyeEm/Getty Images

6. Los Alerces National Park Though the glaciers at this northern Patagonia site won’t vanish so soon, they are melting at an alarming rate. In the past two decades, they have lost 45.6 percent of their ice mass. jacquesvandinteren/iStock Unreleased/Getty Images

5. Great Himalayan National Park Conservation Area This section of the Himalayas in northern India is seeing a similar trend. Glaciers here have lost 16 percent of their mass since 2000. Boy_Anupong/Moment/Getty Images

4. Swiss Alps Though the sites are known for snow and ice-covered peaks, one World Heritage site in the eastern Alps called Swiss Tectonic Arena Sardona is on track to lose all of its glaciers by 2050. Michael Szonyi/imageBROKER/Getty Images

3. Nahanni National Park This rugged, mountainous site in Canada’s Northwest Territories will also likely see complete glacier loss in the next 30 years. Shutterstock

2. Putorana Plateau In northern Central Siberia, UNESCO also predicts the disappearance of glaciers in this mountainous region. Sergey Drozd / 500px/500Px Plus/Getty Images

1. Yellowstone National Park And just like Yosemite, UNESCO predicts that glaciers at this site will be totally or mostly gone by 2050. Wei Hou / 500px/500Px Plus/Getty Images

Shocking report finds more than a dozen famous sites will lose their glaciers by 2050

The other two-thirds will continue to see their glaciers melt rapidly if global warming continues to intensify.

Global warming is clearly linked to accelerated glacier melt — and causes a cascade of negative effects on surrounding ecosystems.

For example, excess meltwater causes sea levels to rise and also depletes accessible freshwater resources for communities that rely on them.

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