UN reports warn 1.5C overshoot could cause irreversible ice damage
Scientists say current warming is already unsafe for the Arctic, Antarctic, mountain glaciers and polar oceans, according to the reports.
Exceeding the 1.5C warming limit could cause irreversible damage to Earth's ice systems and threaten water supplies worldwide, two UN-backed reports warned on Monday, Turkey's state-run news agency Anadolu Agency reported.
The reports were released with the involvement of the International Cryosphere Climate Initiative and the UN Environment Programme, and they highlighted risks from melting glaciers, polar ice sheets, sea ice and thawing permafrost.
The first report, The State of the Cryosphere 2026, was reviewed and supported by more than 50 leading cryosphere scientists, who said current levels of warming are already unsafe for the Arctic, the Antarctic, mountain glaciers and the polar oceans.
The report pointed to Switzerland losing 20 percent of its glacier ice over the past five years.
It also said accelerating sea-level rise threatens hundreds of millions of people, while water shortages and mountain hazards are growing as glaciers disappear and snow drought conditions spread.
The report noted that returning to 1.5C would slow ice loss, but a truly safe temperature for Earth's ice may be closer to 1.0C or even lower over the coming centuries.
The second report, Overshoot and the Cryosphere: Averting Global Meltdown, was prepared with input from more than 80 polar and mountain scientists and set out measures to limit damage from temperature overshoot.
It called for global emissions to fall by at least 5 percent a year, starting immediately, and for net-zero greenhouse gas emissions to be reached by mid-century.
"There can be no delay in phasing out fossil fuels," the report said.
The report said limiting warming could slow sea-level rise to levels that coastal communities can adapt to, and could halt and partially reverse the loss of glaciers, snowpack and sea ice.
It added that a return to 1.5C or below could start sea ice and glacier regrowth within decades to centuries, and could potentially restore healthy snowpack levels.
The reports also warned that thawing permafrost could release additional carbon into the atmosphere, further intensifying global warming.
The Paris Agreement, adopted in 2015, commits governments to limit global warming to well below 2C above pre-industrial levels and to pursue efforts to keep it to 1.5C.
