{"id":21728,"date":"2021-11-13T20:23:14","date_gmt":"2021-11-13T14:38:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/?p=21728"},"modified":"2021-11-13T20:30:13","modified_gmt":"2021-11-13T14:45:13","slug":"mountain-and-polar-groups-seek-urgent-cop-26-decision","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/mountain-and-polar-groups-seek-urgent-cop-26-decision\/","title":{"rendered":"Mountain and Polar Groups Seek Urgent COP-26 Decision"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Mountain and polar groups at COP26 are criticizing the lack of inclusion of the Earth\u2019s cryosphere, and the dire global impacts that will result as final decision texts emerge in Glasgow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">These research, environmental and indigenous organizations span the entire global \u201ccryosphere\u201d (snow and ice regions), from the poles to the high mountain Asia \u201cThird Pole.\u201d They believe that the real implications of this science for climate goals remain so poorly understood by governments, that an entire day should be devoted to their impacts, especially as regards thresholds and tipping points.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cNations in High Mountain Asia already are seeing the effects of glacier and snowpack loss.\u00a0 What these negotiations lack is an understanding that these changes will not be temporary.\u00a0 The higher the temperature, the greater the permanent damage,\u201d says Dr. Pema Gyamtsho, Director General of ICIMOD, the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development, headquartered in Kathmandu, Nepal. \u201cIt is much harder to grow back a glacier than to keep it from disappearing in the first place.\u00a0 And these losses of water resources will be irreversible.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/mountain-675x449.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-21729\" width=\"837\" height=\"557\" title=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/mountain-675x449.jpg 675w, https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/mountain-602x400.jpg 602w, https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/mountain-768x511.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/mountain-174x116.jpg 174w, https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/mountain.jpg 1200w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 837px) 100vw, 837px\" \/><figcaption>PHOTO: ICIMOD<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">As a matter of urgency, the groups are asking COP-26 to approve a decision point mandating the UNFCCC to arrange such a meeting, or \u201cCryosphere Dialogue\u201d at the next inter-sessional climate conference, scheduled to take place in Bonn in June 2022.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cFor too long, our planet\u2019s frozen elements have been absent from the climate debate at the UNFCCC, even though their crucial role in determining the future for more than a billion people and our climate is becoming ever more clear,\u201d said Dr. Martin Sommerkorn, IPCC SROCC author, of the WWF Arctic Programme. \u201cThe UNFCCC must urgently create space for Parties and stakeholders to discuss actions to be taken in response to this cryosphere crisis.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The groups note that despite the dire consequences noted in the IPCC\u2019s latest report, released in August of this year, there has never been a full discussion of projected changes, especially their irreversibility at the climate talks.\u00a0 The UNFCCC has in the past held Dialogues on oceans and terrestrial systems or lands, but never on the Earth\u2019s cryosphere.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cNegotiators may think they know about melting ice caps, but what they don\u2019t realize is that the impacts are essentially permanent on human timescales, and catastrophic for humanity,\u201d noted Dr. Robert DeConto, a leading researcher with one of the groups, the Scientific Committee for Antarctic Research (SCAR) who attended the conference last week.&nbsp; \u201cOnce the collapse of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet begins, it will be effectively impossible to halt,\u201d agrees Jonathan Bamber, Director of the Bristol Glaciology Centre and a multiple IPCC author who also attended.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Dr Rachael Treharne from Woodwell Climate Research Center explained, \u201cThawing Arctic permafrost makes carbon that has been locked in the deep-freeze for millennia vulnerable to release into the atmosphere. It&#8217;s critical that international mitigation policies address this catastrophic regional and global hazard.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThis science is so clear, yet complex, and the changes so drastic and permanent that more dialogue is essential,\u201d said Pam Pearson, Director of the International Cryosphere Climate Initiative, which is hosting a Cryosphere Pavilion at the conference.\u00a0 \u201cThe questions by governments during discussion of the latest IPCC report last week underscore that this issue needs more than a 15-minute presentation.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In addition to the organizations cited above, several academic institutions, including the International Arctic Science Committee (IASC), Grantham Institute at Imperial College, Bolin Centre at Stockholm University, and the National Snow and Ice Data Center at University of Colorado Boulder&nbsp;are participating in the COP-26 effort.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThe polar regions are no longer an early warming signal for climate change,\u201d concludes Professor Dame Jane Francis, Director of the British Antarctic Survey.&nbsp; \u201cInstead, they are now a driver of climate change and this reality needs to be better understood.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Mountain and polar groups at COP26 are criticizing the lack of inclusion of the Earth\u2019s cryosphere, and the dire global impacts that will result as final decision texts emerge in Glasgow. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":21729,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15,3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-21728","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-environment","category-news"],"featured_image_urls":{"full":["https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/mountain.jpg",1200,798,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/mountain-200x200.jpg",200,200,true],"medium":["https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/mountain-602x400.jpg",602,400,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/mountain-768x511.jpg",750,499,true],"large":["https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/mountain-675x449.jpg",675,449,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/mountain.jpg",1200,798,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/mountain.jpg",1200,798,false],"ultp_layout_landscape_large":["https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/mountain.jpg",1200,798,false],"ultp_layout_landscape":["https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/mountain.jpg",857,570,false],"ultp_layout_portrait":["https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/mountain.jpg",600,399,false],"ultp_layout_square":["https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/mountain.jpg",600,399,false],"newspaper-x-single-post":["https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/mountain-760x490.jpg",760,490,true],"newspaper-x-recent-post-big":["https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/mountain-550x360.jpg",550,360,true],"newspaper-x-recent-post-list-image":["https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/mountain-95x65.jpg",95,65,true],"web-stories-poster-portrait":["https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/mountain.jpg",640,426,false],"web-stories-publisher-logo":["https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/mountain.jpg",96,64,false],"web-stories-thumbnail":["https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/mountain.jpg",150,100,false]},"author_info":{"info":["RevoScience"]},"category_info":"<a href=\"https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/category\/environment\/\" rel=\"category tag\">Environment<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/category\/news\/\" rel=\"category tag\">News<\/a>","tag_info":"News","comment_count":"0","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21728","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21728"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21728\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/21729"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21728"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21728"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21728"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}