Page 28 - ARUBA TODAY

A28 SCIENCE
Thursday 7 February 2019

Third of Himalayan glaciers can no longer be saved: study

By BINAJ GURUBACHARYA study’s external reviewers.
Associated Press The study said that even
KATHMANDU, Nepal (AP) if the most ambitious Paris
— One-third of Himalayan climate accord goal of
glaciers will melt by the limiting global warming to
end of the century due to 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 de-
climate change, threaten- grees Fahrenheit) by the
ing water sources for 1.9 bil- end of the century were
lion people, even if current met, more than a third of
efforts to reduce climate the region’s glaciers will
change succeed, an as- be lost. If the global rise in
sessment warns. temperature were 2 C (3.6
If global efforts to curb cli- F), two-thirds of Himalayan
mate change fail, the im- glaciers will melt, it said.
pact could be far worse: The 2015 Paris Agreement
a loss of two-thirds of the was a landmark moment
region’s glaciers by 2100, in international diplomacy,
said the Hindu Kush Hima- bringing together govern-
laya Assessment released ments with vastly differ-
Monday by the Interna- ent views to tackle global
tional Centre for Integrated warming. It set a headline
Mountain Development. target of keeping aver-
“Global warming is on age global temperatures
track to transform the frigid, In this Monday, Feb. 22, 2016 file photo, trekkers pass through a glacier at the Mount Everest from rising by more than 2
glacier-covered mountain base camp, Nepal. C, or 1.5 C if possible. Ac-
peaks of the Hindu Kush Associated Press cording to a recent report
Himalayas cutting across dia, Nepal, China, Bhutan, could range from flooding Dhaka, described the find- by the Intergovernmental
eight countries to bare Bangladesh and Myanmar. from the increased runoff ings of the report as “very Panel on Climate Change,
rocks in a little less than The area, which includes to increased air pollution alarming,” especially for emissions of the most abun-
a century,” said Philippus the world’s tallest mountain from black carbon and downstream nations such dant greenhouse gas, car-
Wester of the center, who peaks, has glaciers that dust deposited on the gla- as Bangladesh. bon dioxide, would need
led the report. feed into river systems in- ciers. “All the countries affected to be reduced to a level
The five-year study looked cluding the Indus, Ganges, Saleemul Huq, director of need to prioritize tack- the planet can absorb —
at the effects of climate Yangtze, Irrawaddy and the International Center ling this upcoming prob- known as net zero — by
change on a region that Mekong. for Climate Change and lem before it reaches crisis 2050 to keep global warm-
cuts across Asia through The assessment said that Development, an environ- proportions,” he said in an ing at 1.5 C as envisaged in
Afghanistan, Pakistan, In- the impact of the melting mental research center in email. Huq was one of the the agreement.q

2018 was 4th warmest, but next 5 years could break records

By SETH BORENSTEIN 2018 was the fourth-warm- Schmidt. The U.S. tempera-
AP Science Writer est year on record behind ture in 2018 was the 14th
WASHINGTON (AP) — While 2016, 2015 and 2017. warmest on average, said
2018 was the fourth-warm- The U.S. government’s Na- NOAA climate monitoring
est year on record, British tional Oceanic and Atmo- chief Deke Arndt.
meteorologists are predict- spheric Administration said Last year was also the third
ing the next five years will 2018’s average tempera- wettest on record in the
be much hotter, maybe ture was 58.42 degrees U.S. Nine eastern states
even record-breaking. (14.69 Celsius), which is had their wettest years on
Two U.S. agencies, the 1.42 degrees (0.79 Celsius) record, “an exclamation
United Kingdom Met Office warmer than the 20th cen- point on a trend of big
and the World Meteorolog- tury average. Much of Eu- rain” in the age of climate
ical Organization analyzed rope had its warmest years change, Arndt said.
global temperatures in on record. Records go This map made available by NASA in February 2019 shows There were 14 weather and
slightly different ways, but back to 1880. global surface temperature anomalies for 2014-2018. climate disasters that cost
each came to the same NASA and NOAA climate Associated Press more than $1 billion, for a
conclusion Wednesday: scientists said even though 2018 was a tad cooler than physics.” Outside scientists, total of $91 billion, Arndt
the three previous years such as Natalie Mahow- said. At least 247 people
that’s mostly due to ran- ald of Cornell University, died in those disasters.
dom weather variations. said the forecast is consis- That’s the fourth-highest
“Never mind the little wig- tent with what researchers number of billion-dollar di-
gles from year to year. The know about warming and sasters and the fourth-high-
trend is going relentlessly natural variability. est dollar amount, taking
up, and it will continue to The obvious long-term inflation into account. The
do so,” Potsdam Institute trend of steady warming damage included Hurri-
climate scientist Stefan makes it easier to more ac- cane Michael’s $25 billion
Rahmstorf said in an email. curately predict near future tally and $24 billion each
“Those who live in denial warming, said NASA chief from Hurricane Florence
of this fact are in denial of climate scientist Gavin and the western wildfires.q