Improve high mountain observations to better-forecast potential disasters and prompt lifesaving action.
In a call for action at the end of this week’s High Mountain Summit to tackle the global warming causing glaciers to retreat , along with snow fields, permafrost and associated ecosystems - collectively called the cryosphere - the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) and partners announced they would step up commitments on the issue of water security and natural disasters linked to melting ice in mountain regions. Changes across the world’s peaks are altering the cryosphere , and impacting the flow of freshwater, which meets the needs of more than half of humanity – they are, in effect, “water towers of the world”. In addition , the problem of disappearing ice caps is stretching from mountainsides to urban communities downstream, as glacial melt-dependent pastures becomes parched, and avalanches, floods and other disasters snuff out lives and weaken local economies. WMO pledged to lead the effort to stop the trend at the conclusion of the three-day summit in Geneva, to addre...