Page 38 - Bulletin_Vol.82 No.3_December 2023

PRECIOUS GLACIERS

UN CHIEF URGES THE WORLD TO "STOP THE

MADNESS" OF CLIMATE CHANGE

By Sciences et Avenir with AFP on 30.10.2023 at 12h30, updated on 31.10.2023 at
11h31 Listen to 4 minutes.

"I am here today to shout from the roof of the world: stop this madness", said Antonio
Guterres, speaking from the village of Syangboche, with the frozen summit of Mount
Everest behind him.

Nepalese Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal (2nd from left) and United Nations
Secretary-General Antonio Guterres (centre) on 31 October 2023.

PRAKASH MATHEMA / AFP

On 30 October, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres urged the world to "stop the
madness" of climate change during a visit to parts of the Himalayas to see the
devastating impact of this phenomenon on the rapid melting of glaciers.

Precious glaciers

"The roofs of the world are collapsing", said Mr Guterres during a visit to the Everest
mountain region of Nepal, pointing out that the country had lost almost a third of its ice
in just over three decades. "Glaciers are reservoirs of ice: those in the Himalayas
provide fresh water for more than a billion people", he stressed. "When they diminish,
the flow of rivers also diminishes." Nepal's glaciers have melted 65% faster in the last
decade than in the previous one, said Antonio Guterres, who is on a four-day visit to the
country.

AAFI-AFICS BULLETIN, Vol. 82 No.3, 2023-12 36

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