EventSave the glaciersWorld Water Day 2025
Glaciers play a crucial role in sustaining our planet. Their meltwater is essential for drinking water, agriculture, industry, clean energy production, and ecosystem preservation.
However, their accelerated melting disrupts water resources, endangering millions of people and the global environmental balance. To address this urgent issue, it is critical to reduce carbon emissions worldwide and implement local strategies to adapt to the gradual disappearance of glaciers.
On this World Water Day, let's take action to make glacier preservation a key part of our fight against climate change and the global water crisis.
The endless journey of water
The water cycle © Designua | Dreamstime.com
The water cycle is nature's way of continuously recycling water. It consists of four key stages:
- Evaporation: The sun's heat causes water from oceans, rivers, and lakes to turn into vapor
- Condensation: As the water vapor rises, it cools and forms clouds
- Precipitation: When clouds become heavy, water falls back to Earth as rain, snow, sleet or hail
- Infiltration and runoff: Water collects in rivers, lakes, oceans, and underground reservoirs called aquifers
Every drop of water we drink today has been part of this continuous cycle for billions of years !
A powerful engine
The sun plays a crucial role in the water cycle. By warming oceans, lakes, and rivers, it triggers evaporation. Water vapor then rises into the atmosphere, where it cools and condenses into tiny droplets, forming clouds.
A single cloud can weigh over 1.1 million pounds due to the countless water droplets it holds, yet it remains suspended in the sky !
Back to Earth
When clouds become too heavy, they release water back to Earth in the form of rain, snow, sleet or hail, depending on temperature conditions. This water then collects in rivers, lakes, oceans, and aquifers, feeding the ongoing water cycle.
Frozen freshwater reservoirs
Glaciers are massive freshwater reservoirs, holding about 70% of the planet's freshwater. During warmer seasons, they gradually melt, supplying water to downstream rivers. This helps maintain a steady water flow, even in regions that might otherwise dry out.
The Perito Moreno Glacier in Patagonia, Argentina, flows into Lake Argentino © Joerg Sinn | Dreamstime.com
Beyond their role in water supply, glaciers help regulate the Earth's climate. However, climate change is accelerating their melting, disrupting the water cycle and posing serious threats to both the environment and human societies.
A journey through time
Did you know that the water we use today is the same water that existed during the time of the dinosaurs ? Water is constantly recycled through natural processes like the water cycle and human purification systems.
So, the drop of water you drink today might have once flowed through a prehistoric river or even been consumed by a dinosaur millions of years ago !
Did you know ?
In 2023, glaciers lost over 660 billion tons of water—the highest recorded loss in 50 years
About 70% of Earth's freshwater is locked in snow and ice
Up to 60% of the world's freshwater resources come from mountains
The melting of glaciers significantly contributes to rising sea levels, which are now about 8 inches (20 cm) higher than in 1900
Limiting global warming to 2.7°F could save glaciers in two-thirds of UNESCO World Heritage sites
Protecting glaciers means securing the future of our water and planet !
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(Megaptera novaeangliae)
(Megaptera novaeangliae)
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