Melting glaciers threaten the supply of food and water for billions across the globe, the United Nations warned in its 2025 World Water Development Report: Mountains and Glaciers: Water towers.

Mountains supply 55 to 60 percent of the planet’s annual freshwater flow, with two billion people reliant on the waters flowing from them.

“As the world’s water towers, mountains provide life-sustaining fresh water to billions of people and countless ecosystems; their critical role in sustainable development cannot be ignored,” a press release from the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) said.

The most recent edition of the report emphasizes the importance of alpine glaciers and other mountain water sources, which are essential to meet basic human needs like drinking water and sanitation.

According to the report, 2.2 billion people did not have access to safe drinking water in 2022, while 3.5 billion lacked safely managed sanitation.

“Climate change is accelerating glacier melt, decreasing snow cover, increasing permafrost thaw, and causing more extreme rainfall events and natural hazards leading to more variable, erratic and uncertain water flows,” the press release said. “This highlights the urgency of improving mountain water governance through integrated river basin management, finance, and knowledge- and capacity-building, to meet the world’s ever-growing demand for water.”

Mountain waters are essential to the food and energy security of billions of people who live in and around mountainous regions, as well as areas downstream. These waters also support water-reliant industries important to economic growth.

Two-thirds of irrigated agriculture globally will likely be impacted by receding mountain glaciers and less snowfall in mountainous regions, the report said, as The Guardian reported.

“Regardless of where we live, we all depend in some way on mountains and glaciers. But these natural water towers are facing imminent peril. This report demonstrates the urgent need for action,” said UNESCO Director General Audrey Azoulay.

The glacial rate of change is the worst ever recorded, separate research by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) said in its State of the Global Climate 2024 report, published earlier this week.

WMO found that the last three years saw the largest ever loss of glacier mass, with the tropical Andes, Sweden, Norway and Svalbard among the most-impacted areas.

“As the ‘water towers’ of the world, mountains are an essential source of fresh water. They store water in the form of ice and snow during cold seasons, releasing it during warmer seasons as a major source of fresh water for users downstream. Mountains play a unique and critical role in the global water cycle, and they affect atmospheric circulation, which drives weather and precipitation patterns,” the press release said.

According to Abou Amani, UNESCO’s director of water sciences, glacial decline also means the reflective ice surface is replaced by dark soil, which absorbs heat.

“Glaciers melting have an impact on the reflectivity of [solar] radiation and that will impact the whole climate system,” Amani warned, as reported by The Guardian.

President of the International Fund for Agricultural Development Alvaro Lario, who is also chair of UN-Water, said more support is needed for those living in affected mountain regions.

“Water flows downhill, but food insecurity rises uphill. Mountains provide 60% of our freshwater, but the communities that safeguard these vital resources are among the most food insecure,” Amani said, as The Guardian reported. “We must invest in their resilience to protect glaciers, rivers, and a shared future for all of us.”

The post World’s Melting Glaciers Threaten Food and Water Supply for 2 Billion People: UN Report appeared first on EcoWatch.

Melting glaciers threaten the supply of food and water for billions across the globe, the United Nations warned in its 2025 World Water Development Report: Mountains and Glaciers: Water towers.

Mountains supply 55 to 60 percent of the planet’s annual freshwater flow, with two billion people reliant on the waters flowing from them.

“As the world’s water towers, mountains provide life-sustaining fresh water to billions of people and countless ecosystems; their critical role in sustainable development cannot be ignored,” a press release from the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) said.

The most recent edition of the report emphasizes the importance of alpine glaciers and other mountain water sources, which are essential to meet basic human needs like drinking water and sanitation.

According to the report, 2.2 billion people did not have access to safe drinking water in 2022, while 3.5 billion lacked safely managed sanitation.

“Climate change is accelerating glacier melt, decreasing snow cover, increasing permafrost thaw, and causing more extreme rainfall events and natural hazards leading to more variable, erratic and uncertain water flows,” the press release said. “This highlights the urgency of improving mountain water governance through integrated river basin management, finance, and knowledge- and capacity-building, to meet the world’s ever-growing demand for water.”

Mountain waters are essential to the food and energy security of billions of people who live in and around mountainous regions, as well as areas downstream. These waters also support water-reliant industries important to economic growth.

Two-thirds of irrigated agriculture globally will likely be impacted by receding mountain glaciers and less snowfall in mountainous regions, the report said, as The Guardian reported.

“Regardless of where we live, we all depend in some way on mountains and glaciers. But these natural water towers are facing imminent peril. This report demonstrates the urgent need for action,” said UNESCO Director General Audrey Azoulay.

The glacial rate of change is the worst ever recorded, separate research by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) said in its State of the Global Climate 2024 report, published earlier this week.

WMO found that the last three years saw the largest ever loss of glacier mass, with the tropical Andes, Sweden, Norway and Svalbard among the most-impacted areas.

“As the ‘water towers’ of the world, mountains are an essential source of fresh water. They store water in the form of ice and snow during cold seasons, releasing it during warmer seasons as a major source of fresh water for users downstream. Mountains play a unique and critical role in the global water cycle, and they affect atmospheric circulation, which drives weather and precipitation patterns,” the press release said.

According to Abou Amani, UNESCO’s director of water sciences, glacial decline also means the reflective ice surface is replaced by dark soil, which absorbs heat.

“Glaciers melting have an impact on the reflectivity of [solar] radiation and that will impact the whole climate system,” Amani warned, as reported by The Guardian.

President of the International Fund for Agricultural Development Alvaro Lario, who is also chair of UN-Water, said more support is needed for those living in affected mountain regions.

“Water flows downhill, but food insecurity rises uphill. Mountains provide 60% of our freshwater, but the communities that safeguard these vital resources are among the most food insecure,” Amani said, as The Guardian reported. “We must invest in their resilience to protect glaciers, rivers, and a shared future for all of us.”

The post World’s Melting Glaciers Threaten Food and Water Supply for 2 Billion People: UN Report appeared first on EcoWatch.

Melting glaciers threaten the supply of food and water for billions across the globe, the United Nations warned in its 2025 World Water Development Report: Mountains and Glaciers: Water towers.

Mountains supply 55 to 60 percent of the planet’s annual freshwater flow, with two billion people reliant on the waters flowing from them.

“As the world’s water towers, mountains provide life-sustaining fresh water to billions of people and countless ecosystems; their critical role in sustainable development cannot be ignored,” a press release from the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) said.

The most recent edition of the report emphasizes the importance of alpine glaciers and other mountain water sources, which are essential to meet basic human needs like drinking water and sanitation.

According to the report, 2.2 billion people did not have access to safe drinking water in 2022, while 3.5 billion lacked safely managed sanitation.

“Climate change is accelerating glacier melt, decreasing snow cover, increasing permafrost thaw, and causing more extreme rainfall events and natural hazards leading to more variable, erratic and uncertain water flows,” the press release said. “This highlights the urgency of improving mountain water governance through integrated river basin management, finance, and knowledge- and capacity-building, to meet the world’s ever-growing demand for water.”

Mountain waters are essential to the food and energy security of billions of people who live in and around mountainous regions, as well as areas downstream. These waters also support water-reliant industries important to economic growth.

Two-thirds of irrigated agriculture globally will likely be impacted by receding mountain glaciers and less snowfall in mountainous regions, the report said, as The Guardian reported.

“Regardless of where we live, we all depend in some way on mountains and glaciers. But these natural water towers are facing imminent peril. This report demonstrates the urgent need for action,” said UNESCO Director General Audrey Azoulay.

The glacial rate of change is the worst ever recorded, separate research by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) said in its State of the Global Climate 2024 report, published earlier this week.

WMO found that the last three years saw the largest ever loss of glacier mass, with the tropical Andes, Sweden, Norway and Svalbard among the most-impacted areas.

“As the ‘water towers’ of the world, mountains are an essential source of fresh water. They store water in the form of ice and snow during cold seasons, releasing it during warmer seasons as a major source of fresh water for users downstream. Mountains play a unique and critical role in the global water cycle, and they affect atmospheric circulation, which drives weather and precipitation patterns,” the press release said.

According to Abou Amani, UNESCO’s director of water sciences, glacial decline also means the reflective ice surface is replaced by dark soil, which absorbs heat.

“Glaciers melting have an impact on the reflectivity of [solar] radiation and that will impact the whole climate system,” Amani warned, as reported by The Guardian.

President of the International Fund for Agricultural Development Alvaro Lario, who is also chair of UN-Water, said more support is needed for those living in affected mountain regions.

“Water flows downhill, but food insecurity rises uphill. Mountains provide 60% of our freshwater, but the communities that safeguard these vital resources are among the most food insecure,” Amani said, as The Guardian reported. “We must invest in their resilience to protect glaciers, rivers, and a shared future for all of us.”

The post World’s Melting Glaciers Threaten Food and Water Supply for 2 Billion People: UN Report appeared first on EcoWatch.

The UK government has announced plans to reduce pesticide use on farms 10% by 2030. The target is the first pesticide national action plan (NAP) from the government in a decade and is meant to help reduce harm to pollinators and improve agricultural productivity via more sustainable methods.

The new action plan follows the ban on neonics in the UK, which was upheld earlier this year when a request for the emergency authorization to use a neonicotinoid called Cruiser SB was denied.

“The Government is restoring our natural world as part of our commitment to protect the environment while supporting productivity and economic growth. Environment Minister Emma Hardy said in a statement. “That is why we have banned bee killing pesticides in England and today we’re going further to support farmers and growers to adopt sustainable practices.”    

As outlined by the government, the pesticide NAP aims to reduce environmental harm from pesticides by at least 10% by 2030, rather than an actual volume reduction. The government will implement a Pesticide Load Indicator to measure progress. 

The plan also will emphasize integrated pest management practices to farms, encouraging farmers to use nature-based solutions over pesticides. Farmers are encouraged to practice crop rotating, mechanical and hand weeding, introducing predator to control pests and planting more pest- and disease-resistant crops, among other measures.

Finally, the NAP plans to increase trainings, guidance materials and greater enforcements to meet the target.

“While we had hoped for a higher percentage, the adoption of a target which takes into account both how much of a pesticide is used and how toxic it is a clear signal that reducing pesticide-related harms to the environment is now being taken seriously,” a Pesticide Collaboration spokesperson said, as reported by The Guardian. 

There are some limitations to the NAP, and critics noted that the action plan does not set goals for pesticide use in urban areas, only farms.

“The new plan’s failure to address the use of pesticides in urban areas is a major flaw,” Paul de Zylva, nature campaigner at Friends of Earth, told The Guardian. “The government must commit to the phasing out of pesticide and herbicide use in urban parks and streets, which is unnecessary and risks the health of people, pets, wildlife, rivers and soils.”

However, as a spokesperson from Pesticide Collaboration noted, “While there are no commitments to phasing out urban pesticide use, we have been assured by the government that this area of work will be progressed separately.”

While the move is a step in the right direction, it isn’t as significant as a similar plan by the European Union to reduce the use of more hazardous pesticides by 50% in the same timeframe as part of a Farm to Fork Strategy in Europe’s Green Deal.

Barnaby Coupe, senior land use manager at The Wildlife Trusts, said, “While not perfect, the inclusion of a new pesticide load indicator and a 10% reduction target mark a step forward in pesticide policy, but this target will need to become more ambitious over time if the UK is to meet its international commitment to half pesticide-related risks by 2030. 

The post UK to Cut Pesticide Use on Farms 10% by 2030 appeared first on EcoWatch.

Authorities in Indonesia and Malaysia frequently relocate wild orangutans, which can leave them hungry, lost and in conflict with established residents. Many displaced orangutans make the journey back home, sometimes over 60 miles to the areas where they were raised.

According to a new study, there are several reasons for orangutan relocation: If they are found to be feeding on or damaging crops or are presumed likely to do so; deemed a risk to humans or property; in the path of human development; at risk from forest fires or human attacks; living in unsuitable habitats; or believed to be malnourished.

“While wild-to-wild translocations may remove individuals from situations where their lives are in immediate danger from humans, they have limited long-term success in mitigating human-wildlife conflicts and, in many cases, also have negative impacts on post-release survival and welfare of released individuals and on species conservation,” the authors of the study wrote. “Unintended outcomes of wild-wild translocations undertaken to ameliorate conflicts include injury or death of individual animals during capture, translocation or release, and released individuals being killed by conspecifics or humans.”

The research team investigated “wild-to-wild” translocations of orangutans in Indonesia between 2005 and 2022, mostly relying on public data and consultation with practitioners.

They found that almost one-third of the orangutans returned to the original site of their capture, reported The Guardian. Sometimes mothers were separated from their infants, which threatens the survival of younger orangutans, who can spend as long as nine years being dependent.

“At least 988 wild orangutans were captured for translocation during the study period, including many reproductively valuable resident females and adult males removed from unprotected fragmented forests and forest patches,” the authors wrote.

The researchers said that 81.7 percent of the orangutans were healthy when they were captured, which raises concerns as to whether many of the translocations were even necessary.

“Some of these animals are really old. In one instance, a 60-year-old male was moved. To you and me, that’s like if someone kidnaps your grandpa and knocks him out, blindfolds him, drives him miles away from his neighbourhood, and then drops him off in some city he’s never seen, where the people are unhappy to see him and might be aggressive,” said lead author of the study Julie Sherman, director of Wildlife Impact.

All three orangutan species — Sumatran, Bornean and Tapanuli — are listed as critically endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. Once widespread throughout southeast Asia, our closest animal relatives are now only found on Sumatra and Borneo, where the last of their fragmented forest homes remain.

Conservationists are trying to come up with the most effective protection measures for the endangered great apes in the face of fears of the expansion of palm oil plantations in the region.

All three species have experienced drastic declines in recent years. With roughly 105,000 remaining, the Bornean orangutan is the most common. Approximately 14,000 Sumantran orangutans survive, while there are only 800 Tapanuli orangutans in an isolated area of Sumatra, making them the world’s most endangered great ape.

For the study, the researchers reviewed government reports, news stories and scientific research. They warned that relocating orangutans — often far from their home territories — disrupts their social structure.

Over three-quarters of orangutans are living outside of protected areas, but are able to do well in areas of fragmented forest, on croplands and plantations, which can put them into unexpected contact with humans.

Co-author of the study Serge Wich, a biology professor at Liverpool John Moores University, said more effort is needed to encourage people who live on the edges of forested areas to coexist with orangutans rather than uprooting them and transporting them to unfamiliar places.

“It is really key that we work with local communities and companies to find a solution for this. This is not a sustainable way for the future. We can’t capture all the animals that are on the edge of the forest. There’s going to be more and more forest edges, unfortunately, as development continues and roads come in. We need to find a way to keep animals where they are and manage them in a matrix of forest, oil palm and community gardens. Otherwise, we’ll end up with very small populations in bits of forests,” Wich said.

Between moving adult orangutans — the females of which only give birth about once a decade — and killing them, researchers warn their populations could plummet.

“We [need to] make it feasible for people and orangutans to coexist alongside each other, akin to how it is with foxes in the UK,” Sherman said. “You could kill them all, move them all. Or, find a way to coexist with them – because they’re happy using the spaces that we are in.”

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