France’s Macron Says Melting Glaciers ‘Unprecedented Challenge for Humanity’
PARIS (AP) — Melting glaciers are an “unprecedented challenge for humanity,” French President Emmanuel Macron said on Friday, as he launched a call for nations to work together on slashing planet-warming emissions, protecting the environment and collaborating on scientific research into the Earth’s icy ecosystems.
Such a united effort is desperately needed, even though the war in Ukraine and the latest Israel-Hamas war are taking away much of the international focus and hamper global unity and cooperation, Macron said.
The French leader spoke at the Paris Peace Forum, an annual event involving governments, nongovernmental groups and others seeking dialogue around global problems such as climate change, children’s exposure to online violence, and threats to human rights.
The world, Macron said, is witnessing “the collapse of the cryosphere under the impact of climate change,” referring to parts of the Earth where water is in solid form, including glaciers.
“The most immediate and visible effect is the melting of the ice caps … it represents an unprecedented challenge for humanity,” Macron said.
Melting ice surfaces worldwide have an impact on biodiversity, rising sea levels and coastlines and they contribute to scarcity of drinking water, migration, greater release of CO2 and the risk of a new pandemic, he added.
“All these threats are real,” Macron said and called for urgent cooperation.
“Conflicts are once again on the agenda, in the Middle East and elsewhere and this makes our relations fragile, but we have to do our best to work closely together, in a peaceful way,” he added.
Heads of states, governments and diplomats from about 40 states attended the summit in Paris, including China. Russia was not invited, even though its territory includes part of the Arctic.
States issued a call to action to address human-caused climate change and biodiversity loss caused by melting ecosystems. Summit participants also launched a high-level group that will focus on the impact the melt will have on coastal towns facing rising sea levels and dwindling water resources in mountainous regions.
Ruth Mottram, a climate scientist at the Danish Meteorological Institute, welcomed the call for scientific collaboration in the polar regions, but said Russia’s war on Ukraine has disrupted that.
“It is hard to see that any normalization of relations will happen (or even be desirable) until the war is over,” Mottram said in an e-mail.
She added that the loss of glaciers and ice sheets would have “impacts on vulnerable populations very far from the polar regions” such as through sea level rise, which showed “how important it is to understand the earth system as a whole.”
Ahead of Macron’s comments, Miriam Jackson, a climate scientist with the Kathmandu-based International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development, called for politicians “to listen to the scientists and people and implement the necessary changes.”
She said the impact of melting glaciers are felt by billions in the form of rising sea levels, floods and unpredictable river flows.
“There is a huge human component to this rapid warming of our earth and it is our responsibility to slow down and reverse these changes, if possible,” Jackson said.
In mountains from the Alps to the Himalayas, glaciers are disappearing at alarming rates due to warming temperatures, with many predicted to disappear entirely by the end of the century, according to studies.
While human-caused climate change means the loss of glacier mass is irreversible in the short term, scientists say drastically reducing the burning of planet-warming coal, oil and gas could minimize the melt in the future.
It’s a similarly stark picture on the Earth’s poles. The Arctic is rapidly losing sea ice as global warming causes the ice to weaken and disappear. The frozen Antarctic has also seen dramatic ice sheet melt, disappearing glaciers and unusually high temperatures as the world heats up.
"Mchanganyiko wa barafu ni changamoto isiyo na kifani kwa wanadamu, ""Mraisi Emmanuel Macron alisema siku ya Ijumaa, wakati alipotoa wito kwa mataifa kufanya kazi pamoja juu ya kupunguza uzalishaji wa joto la sayari, kulinda mazingira na kushirikiana katika utafiti wa kisayansi juu ya mazingira ya barafu ya Dunia." """Jitihada kama hiyo ya umoja inahitajika sana, hata ingawa vita vya Ukraine na vita vya hivi karibuni vya Israel na Hamas vinatoa mwelekeo mkubwa wa kimataifa na kuzuia umoja na ushirikiano wa kimataifa,"" Macron alisema." Rais Macron amezungumza katika mkutano wa amani wa Paris, tukio la kila mwaka linalohusisha serikali, makundi yasiyo ya kiserikali na wengine wanaotafuta mazungumzo kuhusu matatizo ya kimataifa kama vile mabadiliko ya hali ya hewa, uonyesho wa watoto kwa vurugu mtandaoni na vitisho kwa haki za binadamu. Macron amesema dunia inashuhudia kuanguka kwa cryosphere chini ya athari za mabadiliko ya hali ya hewa, akirejelea sehemu za dunia ambapo maji ni katika fomu ngumu, ikiwa ni pamoja na barafu. "Tokeo la haraka na linaloonekana zaidi ni kuyeyuka kwa barafu... inawakilisha changamoto isiyo na kifani kwa ubinadamu", Macron alisema. "Kupungua kwa barafu duniani kote kunaathiri aina mbalimbali za viumbe, kuongezeka kwa kiwango cha bahari na pwani, na huchangia upungufu wa maji ya kunywa, uhamiaji, kutolewa kwa CO2 na hatari ya janga jipya,"" amesema." "Tisho hili lote ni la kweli", Macron alisema na kuita ushirikiano wa haraka. "Mipango ya mapigano imepanda tena katika ajenda, katika Mashariki ya Kati na kwingineko na hii inafanya mahusiano yetu kuwa dhaifu, lakini lazima tufanye kila tuwezalo kufanya kazi kwa karibu pamoja, kwa njia ya amani,"" aliongeza." Viongozi wa nchi na serikali za nchi 40 zilizohudhuria mkutano huo wa Paris, pamoja na China. Urusi haikualikwa, ingawa eneo lake linatia ndani sehemu ya Aktiki. Mkutano huo ulitoa wito wa hatua za kukabiliana na mabadiliko ya hali ya hewa yanayosababishwa na binadamu na upotezaji wa bioanuwai unaosababishwa na kuyeyuka kwa mifumo ya ikolojia. Washiriki wa mkutano huo pia walianzisha kikundi cha ngazi ya juu ambacho kitazingatia athari za kuyeyuka kwa bahari kwa miji ya pwani inayokabiliwa na kuongezeka kwa viwango vya bahari na kupungua kwa rasilimali za maji katika mikoa ya milima. Ruth Mottram, mwanasayansi wa hali ya hewa katika Taasisi ya Hali ya Hewa ya Denmark, alikaribisha wito wa ushirikiano wa kisayansi katika mikoa ya polar, lakini alisema vita vya Urusi dhidi ya Ukraine vimevuruga hilo. "Ni vigumu kuona kwamba yoyote normalization ya mahusiano kitatokea (au hata kuwa ya kutamaniwa) mpaka vita ni juu", Mottram alisema katika barua pepe. "Mwanamke huyo amesema kuwa ""kupotea kwa barafu na barafu itakuwa na athari kwa watu walio katika hatari mbali sana na maeneo ya barafu, kama vile kuongezeka kwa kiwango cha bahari, ambayo inaonyesha jinsi ni muhimu kuelewa mfumo wa dunia kwa ujumla,"" na Miriam Jackson, mwanasayansi wa hali ya hewa wa Kituo cha Kimataifa cha Maendeleo ya Mlima cha Kathmandu, aliwaomba wanasiasa ""wasikilize wanasayansi na watu na kutekeleza mabadiliko muhimu.""" "Kuna sehemu kubwa ya binadamu katika ongezeko hili la joto la dunia yetu na ni jukumu letu kupunguza na kubadilisha mabadiliko haya, ikiwezekana", Jackson alisema. Katika milima kuanzia Alps hadi Himalaya, barafu zinapotea kwa kasi ya kutisha kutokana na ongezeko la joto, na nyingi zinatarajiwa kutoweka kabisa kufikia mwisho wa karne hii, kulingana na utafiti. Ingawa mabadiliko ya hali ya hewa yanayosababishwa na binadamu yanamaanisha kwamba upotezaji wa barafu ni wa kudumu kwa muda mfupi, wanasayansi wanasema kupunguza kwa kiasi kikubwa kuchoma makaa ya mawe, mafuta na gesi ambayo huongeza joto la sayari inaweza kupunguza kuyeyuka kwa barafu katika siku zijazo. Ni picha sawa kabisa kwenye nguzo za Dunia. Barafu ya Bahari ya Aktiki inapotea haraka kwa sababu ya ongezeko la joto duniani. Antarctica imefungia kwa sababu ya kuyeyuka kwa barafu, kupotea kwa barafu, na joto la juu sana.