Permanent damage threatens the Earth’s ice

Achieving the target of a maximum of 1.5 degrees of warming is not enough for the Earth’s ice-covered regions. Warming must be reduced – ideally to below one degree, according to a new report.

Earlier this autumn, researchers concluded that the Paris Agreement’s targets will be exceeded within ten years.

For the cryosphere – the Earth’s water in solid form, that is, all ice and snow – much of the damage would be permanent even if global warming were subsequently reduced to 1.5 degrees.

Glaciers would retain only around 70 per cent of their current volume over several centuries if long-term warming were reduced to 0.8 degrees. Greenland and Antarctica would continue to lose ice even if the 1.5-degree target were exceeded only temporarily, according to the report from the International Cryosphere Climate Initiative.