MELTING GLACIERS: A WARNING FOR THE FUTURE

Educational Research in Universal Sciences ISSN: 2181-3515 VOLUME 4 | ISSUE 15 | 2025 https://t.me/Erus_uz Multidisciplinary Scientific Journal November, 2025 41 DOI: https://10.5281/zenodo.17779745 MELTING GLACIERS: A WARNING FOR THE FUTURE Sulaymonova Gulinura Jasur qizi The University of World Economy and Diplomacy E-mail: [email protected] Nargiza Erikovna Sharipova Scientific supervisor: candidate of pedagogical sciences, associate professor E-mail: [email protected] ABSTRACT This article describes in detail the significance of glaciers and problems they are facing. The article also explores various ways of restoring missing part of the world. Key words: glaciers, seabed, ice sheets, climate change, pollution, Antarctic, Greenland, sea level rise, albedo, meltwater, curtain, mountain range. Before starting our article, let’s first make it clear what glaciers are and how they are formed. Basically, a glacier is a large mass of ice formed from compressed snow that moves because of its own weight and gravity. The oldest continuously layered ice anywhere on the planet is believed to have been laid down 2 million years ago, on a 3300-metre-high ice plateau in the East Antarctic. In general, there are two main types of glaciers. If it is found on mountain range, it is called "Mountain glacier". On a larger scale, continuous mass of unconfined ice bigger than 50.000 kilometers is called "Continental glacier". According to Nasa’s statistics, about 10 % of Earth’s surface is covered with ice, most of which is found in Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets. It is important to note that Antarctica is open to any kind of scientific research except military activity, mineral mining, and nuclear testing. Glaciers have been silent sentinels of time for millennia. They are not just giant frozen water but an intricate archive of Earth’s climatic history. Each year a new layer of snowfall accumulates on glaciers resulting in compressed ice. Just like tree rings, scientists can understand temperature fluctuations, dust and pollution levels and of course amount of snowball. In other words, they can be called as Earth’s frozen time capsules. So far scientists have managed to find several prehistoric frozen animals like mammoth calves, woolly rhino babies in glaciers and unlocked the Earth’s history through them. Apart from Educational Research in Universal Sciences ISSN: 2181-3515 VOLUME 4 | ISSUE 15 | 2025 https://t.me/Erus_uz Multidisciplinary Scientific Journal November, 2025 42 enabling scientists a glimpse into the past, glaciers play a crucial role in sustaining life in coastal areas both for humans and animals like polar bears and seals. It is estimated that nearly 68.7% of fresh water is contained in ice and snow. As additional information, only 2.8 of water on Earth is considered fresh. Thanks to glaciers, during warmer months, vast areas of land dedicated to agriculture receive fresh water. In areas like the Himalayas, parts of south America, and Central Asia, millions of people depend on this meltwater for irrigation and sustaining livestock. In addition, because of being covered in snow and deathly pale, they reflect a lot of solar radiation they receive, keeping Earth temperature under control. As we have analyzed the role of glaciers on Earth, it is time to look through the threats posed on them. We used to think that ice was eternal and could be passed on to our future generations. As a matter of fact, even saving glaciers for our own generation is under question. They are disappearing at such a rate, that is leaving everyone living near ice caps or in tropical places very confused. By the end of 21st century, it is predicted that nearly half of Earth’s ice will disappear leading to a bunch of problems for humanity and animal habitat. Scientists estimate that we have lost 9 trillion tons of ice since 1975. That is enough to cover Germany with a sheet of ice 25 meters high. Since the turn of the century, 6,500 billion tons-or 5%-of ice have been lost. If we look at the picture down below, we can see the upward trend of glaciers melting between the periods 2009 and 2020. Educational Research in Universal Sciences ISSN: 2181-3515 VOLUME 4 | ISSUE 15 | 2025 https://t.me/Erus_uz Multidisciplinary Scientific Journal November, 2025 43 The main culprit behind this dramatic scenario is human activities. To be more specific, since industrial revolution, carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gas emissions have raised temperatures, even in higher in the poles, and as a result, glaciers are rapidly melting, calving off into the sea and retreating on land. When toxic chemical pollutants and particles settle on the surface of a glacier, they reduce the strength of albedo. Albedo is a special ability of the surface to reflect sunlight. As we have already researched that clean snow and ice are protected with high albedo as a shield against sun rays. However, pollutants when settle on the surface of the ice, darken its color leading to absorbing more sunlight. Consequently, glaciers heat up and shrink more quickly. If glaciers continue melting at this trend, there will be devastating implications. One of the most immediate consequences is rising sea levels. As glaciers melt, the water flows into the oceans contributing to significant sea level rise. People and other living creatures residing in coastal areas will be in huge danger because of potential floods, erosion and habitat loss. Furthermore, as glaciers recede these water resources become less reliable which in turn threatens food security. Global weather patterns are also influenced by glacier melting. As more water flows into the ocean, ocean currents which play an important role in regulating climate can be disrupted. In worst case scenario, the frequency and intensity of extreme weather events like hurricanes, heatwaves and heavy rainfall can reach such a level, even people living far from oceans go through hardship. While everyone is making a fuss about the future of glaciers, some governments and businesses spy an opportunity. The region is rich in much-needed resources like oil and gas, tempting even Donald Trump to take over Greenland. Greenland alone is thought to have enough reserves of metals such as neodymium and dysprosium, which are used in the manufacture of wind, turbines and electric vehicles. No matter how much melting ice sheets provide access to critical materials, environmental threats it poses outweigh its potential advantages. So, what can be done to put an end or at least reduce glacier melting. In 2025 UNESCO marked 21st of March as a joint celebration: World Day for glaciers and World water day. High-level event took place on 20-21 March 2025 at UNESCO Headquarters in Paris. The event marked the launch of the 2025 World Water Development. This event was a cornerstone of the International Year of Glaciers’ Preservation, uniting global stakeholders to combat the urgent challenges of ravaged sea ice. Collaborating and attracting attention to this problem is a political way of tackling it. What about scientific ones? One theory which is put forward and backed up by mainstream is dealing with marine ice cliff instability. The idea is to use seabed anchored curtain. This idea was proposed by polar and geoengineering scientist John Educational Research in Universal Sciences ISSN: 2181-3515 VOLUME 4 | ISSUE 15 | 2025 https://t.me/Erus_uz Multidisciplinary Scientific Journal November, 2025 44 Moore. According to his idea, a curtain anchored to the seabed and floating vertically would hold back warmer waters from reaching the ice. This would protect the ice sheet turning back the clock on melting. With the help of today’s technology, every material needed for making this idea reality is available. The curtain should be 80 kilometers long and most likely costs 50 billion dollars. Even though the amount of investment required for this project seems huge, damages of this sea level rise can cost trillions of dollars. The easiest solution which scientists reiterate is coping with human-caused pollution. However, until we reach zero emissions, we will have already lost significant component of our Earth. In conclusion, glaciers are like an air conditioner for our planet Earth. Losing them will bring devastating consequences for not only low-lying countries but also people in tropical places and wildlife. Therefore, the world should collaborate and stimulate scientific methods and new international policies to mitigate the issue. REFERENCES: 1. https://youtu.be/7kt5SKwt-UM?si=e7-44Qc_3F1iplOA 2. https://youtu.be/XRUxTFWWWdY?si=YApRDd5hIlAjAvQU 3. https://youtu.be/6vPr0mkWDy8?si=AMPUbvTurCh5pekS 4. https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cy4ly8vde85o 5. https://www.worldwildlife.org/pages/why-are-glaciers-and-sea-icemelting#:~:text=Human%20activities%20are%20at%20the,sea%20and%20retreating %20on%20land 6. https://www.un-glaciers.org/en/world-day-glaciers-paris?hub=195 7. https://youtu.be/WcQ4BzHGaS8?si=MFFvchKCd8C496DQ 8. New Scientist magazine.26th April 2025