Every year, March 22nd is World Water Day<\/strong>. This year’s theme is the title at the top of this article.<\/p>\n What is a glacier?<\/strong><\/p>\n Glaciers are large masses of ice and snow<\/strong> formed on the Earth’s surface by the accumulation, compaction, and recrystallization of snow. Glaciers are located in mountainous areas and polar regions<\/strong> and move slowly due to gravity.<\/p>\n When a glacier in polar regions melts<\/strong>, the freshwater falls into the sea and mixes with saltwater, thus depleting the planet’s drinking water reserves. This phenomenon is accelerating due to the effect of greenhouse gases<\/strong> that cause global warming<\/strong>. Therefore, it is urgent to combat climate change<\/strong>.<\/p>\n So, what about icebergs<\/strong>? An iceberg is a fragment of ice that has broken off a glacier and floats in the sea.<\/p>\n With this in mind, we can quickly imagine what would happen in a hypothetical case where all the glaciers melted.<\/p>\n The Earth is 10% covered by glaciers, and during the \u201cIce Age\u201d, that percentage reached 30%. Glaciers accumulate more than 75% of the planet’s total freshwater.<\/p>\n A glacier takes thousands of years to form; however, due to the constant rise in Earth’s temperature, glaciers are melting in just a few decades and have been retreating for more than fifty years.<\/p>\n The main cause of ice melting is global warming<\/strong>. The fewer glaciers there are, the more global warming there will be unless climate change can be reversed.<\/p>\n Human activity is largely responsible for this, primarily through the emission of CO2 and other gases, deforestation, ocean pollution, and the crossing of several of the Earth’s nine boundaries<\/strong>.<\/p>\n The icy formations located north of the Andes are known as \u201cequatorial glaciers\u201d, and until now, they have been the most sensitive to the rapid decline in their mass due to their tropical location and the effects of global warming.<\/p>\n Where do rivers in tropical or warmer regions, where glaciers do not exist, get their water supply?<\/strong> For example, the Amazon River is the longest and most voluminous river in the world.<\/p>\n The Amazon River’s waters come from the Andes mountain range in Peru. The river originates in the Apacheta ravine in the Arequipa region, at 5,597 meters above sea level.<\/p>\n Its waters come from the melting of Nevado Mismi, a mountain over 5,000 meters above sea level. The waters flow into the Apur\u00edmac River, which joins the Ucayali River, which in turn flows into the Mara\u00f1\u00f3n River to form the main channel of the Amazon.<\/p>\n The glaciers of mountain ranges with perpetual snow are essential to preserving life on the planet. Their natural melting processes are major providers of drinking water for populations, for agricultural and industrial uses, as well as for the production of clean energy and for maintaining healthy ecosystems.<\/p>\n Everything discussed here indicates that the conservation of glaciers<\/strong> is essential to preserving the water that sustains life on Earth<\/strong>.<\/p>\n Sandor Alejandro Gerendas-Kiss![\"\"](\"https:\/\/sgkplanet.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/Logo-2-Save-our-glaciers-World-Water-Day-2025-wwd2025_web_playyourpart_home_eng.png\"){kind=logo}
These three simple words, \u201csave our glaciers<\/strong>\u201d, already indicate the relationship between glaciers and freshwater.<\/p>\n
\nEditor of SGK-PLANET<\/p>\n<\/div>