Glaciers Will Take Centuries to Recover Even if Global Warming Is Reversed, Scientists Warn

New research reveals mountain glaciers across the globe will not recover for centuries – even if human intervention cools the planet back to the 1.5°C limit, having exceeded it. New research reveals mountain glaciers across the globe will not recover for centuries – even if human intervention cools the planet back to the 1.5°C limit, having exceeded it.

The research, led by the University of Bristol in the UK and the University of Innsbruck in Austria, presents the first global simulations of glacier change up to 2500 under so-called ‘overshoot’ scenarios, when the planet temporarily exceeds the 1.5°C limit up to 3°C before cooling back down.

The results, published today in Nature Climate Change, show that such a scenario could result in glaciers losing up to 16% more of their mass compared to a world that never crosses the 1.5°C threshold. Corresponding author Dr Fabien Maussion, Associate Professor in Polar Environmental Change at the University of Bristol, said: “Current climate policies are putting the Earth on a path close to 3°C. It’s clear that such a world is far worse for glaciers than one where the 1.5°C limit is held. Read more at University of Bristol. 

Source: ENN