Become an Expert on the Year of Glaciers ❄️

Over the past few weeks, I have been interviewed every single day about this pivotal year for glaciers. And in these interviews, the same questions keep coming up. So, let’s dive into the most common ones—because if there’s one thing the Year of Glaciers should do, it’s spark curiosity! #Glaciers2025

🏔️ How many glaciers are there in the world?

There are 192,870 mapped glaciers, identified using satellite imagery. That’s nearly 200,000 unique ice bodies, each with its own story.

🗺️ If we put all these glaciers together, how big would that "country" be?

The total surface area of mountain glaciers (excluding the massive Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets) is around 700,000 km². That’s roughly:

🤠 The size of Texas + California combined

🍺 Twice the size of Germany

🥐 1.27 times the size of France

An entire nation of ice.

🌊 If all these glaciers melted, how much would sea levels rise?

If mountain glaciers were to melt entirely, they would raise global sea levels by approximately 32 to 41 cm. At first glance, this might seem minor—until you consider that every centimeter of sea-level rise impacts around 1 million people through coastal flooding. And when we factor in the ice sheets of Greenland and Antarctica, they could contribute an additional 65 meters.

🚰 How many people depend on glaciers for water?

At least 700 million people rely directly on glacier and snow melt for freshwater. But zoom out further, and you’ll see that billions depend on mountain water resources, especially during dry seasons.

⏰ Is it too late to save them? Will they all disappear?

Not all, but many. According to the latest research:

If current policies lead to 2.7°C of warming by 2100, only about 24% of our glacier mass will survive. BUT if global warming is limited to the 1.5°C goal of the Paris Agreement, more than half of glacier mass (53%) could still remain.

We know the science, we know the consequences, and we know what needs to be done. The question is—will we act?

⏳ This year, the world is watching glaciers. Let’s make sure we don’t just watch them disappear ⌛