UN-backed reports warn of ‘irreversible’ damage to glaciers, ice sheets from global warming

Baku, November 2, AZERTACExceeding the 1.5C warming threshold could trigger irreversible damage to Earth’s ice systems, accelerate sea-level rise and threaten water supplies worldwide, two UN-backed reports warned Monday.“Overshooting the 1.5C Paris Agreement target will bring large-scale, and in many cases irreversible, impacts from the Earth’s melting ice sheets, permafrost, glaciers, sea ice and polar oceans,” they said.The reports, released with the involvement of the International Cryosphere Climate Initiative (ICCI) and the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), highlighted the growing risks posed by melting glaciers, polar ice sheets, sea ice and thawing permafrost.The State of the Cryosphere 2026 report, reviewed and supported by more than 50 leading cryosphere scientists, warned that current levels of warming were “already unsafe” for the Arctic, the Antarctic, mountain glaciers and the polar oceans.It cited Switzerland’s loss of 20% of its glacier ice over the past five years, acce