{"id":60074601,"date":"2025-03-27T16:40:53","date_gmt":"2025-03-27T16:40:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/?p=60074601"},"modified":"2025-04-02T12:20:46","modified_gmt":"2025-04-02T11:20:46","slug":"qa-climatologist-pam-pearson-on-why-glacier-loss-must-reshape-global-climate-action","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/climate\/qa-climatologist-pam-pearson-on-why-glacier-loss-must-reshape-global-climate-action\/","title":{"rendered":"Q&A: Climatologist Pam Pearson on why glacier loss must reshape global climate action"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

To mark the UN\u2019s first International Year of Glaciers\u2019 Preservation (IYGP), Unesco and UN\u202fWater have released a flagship report, Mountains and Glaciers: Water towers<\/a>. It warns that mountain water resources are \u201cliterally melting away before our eyes\u201d: the Hindu Kush Himalaya (HKH), part of the so-called Third Pole, has a glacier system that is among the most vulnerable on Earth and is \u201cdisappearing at an alarming rate\u201d.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The report warns that reduced water flows and increased droughts \u201care expected to jeopardise food, water, energy and livelihood security\u201d in the region, while disrupting ecosystems and escalating risks of conflict and migration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Meanwhile, in Stop the Melt<\/a>, a report published by China Water Risk (CWR), a Hong Kong-based think-tank focused on water and climate, 13 fact sheets show Asia\u2019s acute socio-economic exposure to cryosphere losses \u2013 from rising seas to GDP shocks in major river basins. It also highlights a unique opportunity for Asia: contributing over 50% of global greenhouse gas emissions, the region has the potential to achieve significant decarbonisation this decade.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As an early-career cryosphere scientist with the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD), contributing to the UN Water report was a milestone for me. Around the same time, I sat down with Pam Pearson, founder and director of the International Cryosphere Climate Initiative, which was the co-producer of the CWR fact sheets, to reflect on what\u2019s at stake. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

A veteran of climate diplomacy since the 1997 Kyoto Protocol, where she was part of the negotiating team, Pam leads on policy, partnerships and finance for the IYGP and continues to shape the global cryosphere conversation. We spoke about what drew her into this work, how the field has evolved and what it means to hold onto hope in the face of accelerating loss.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tenzing Chogyal Sherpa: The ICCI\u2019s work now spans from mountain regions to both geographic poles. What motivated you to establish this organisation and how do we make people care about what\u2019s happening in these remote zones?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Pam Pearson: <\/strong>I was born in Texas \u2013 not much cryosphere there \u2013 but I\u2019ve been connected to it since I was an exchange student in Sweden, where I now live.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

My first posting [with the US State Department] was in Ecuador, in 1987, a few hours from Chimborazo, the country\u2019s highest peak. There, a mountain hut used by climbers had to be rebuilt higher up because the glacier had retreated. They\u2019ve since built a third one even further uphill.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Later, I left the State Department and started working on Arctic Council issues [the Council is an intergovernmental forum to address issues faced by Arctic states]. During the International Polar Year (2007-9), I took Dave Carlson, its executive secretary, to the UN climate negotiations in Bonn, Germany. After a side event, which I\u2019d invited old negotiator friends to, I asked him what he thought. He just exploded: \u201cThese people know nothing… nothing!\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He was watching the planet change in real time and felt these negotiators were way behind. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

That\u2019s when it hit me: negotiators really don\u2019t know what\u2019s happening in these regions \u2013 they\u2019re too far away. I saw the power of bringing these regions together. There was no organisation focused on that, so I started one.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How has the discourse around the cryosphere evolved?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

One of the biggest changes since the Paris Agreement is how the science has shifted. It\u2019s no longer just about what\u2019s happening in these regions, it\u2019s about the impact their loss is having on the rest of the planet. That\u2019s our focus now.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We avoid talking about snow leopards, penguins, or polar bears \u2013 it sounds far away, and doesn\u2019t usually promote behavioural change. What does is [people] seeing the impact [of climate change] in their own backyard. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Last year\u2019s ICCI State of the Cryosphere report contained the striking statement that 2C is too high. But the Paris Agreement aimed to limit warming to 1.5C. At ICIMOD, we\u2019ve also said 1.5C is too hot. What does 2C really mean for the cryosphere, and is it too late?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The Paris Agreement, adopted in 2015, set the goal of limiting global temperature rise to well below 2C, with efforts to stay under 1.5C. But now we know that even 2C is too high. Back then, we didn\u2019t understand the cryosphere like we do now. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"group<\/div>
ICIMOD\u2019s Cryosphere Initiative, in collaboration with Bhutan\u2019s Department of Hydro-Met Services, conducted a joint field expedition to Thana Glacier near the China-Bhutan border in September 2016 as part of the Cryosphere Monitoring Programme Bhutan (Image: Inka Koch \/ ICIMOD)<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Some people, especially the paleo-climatologists who study the Earth\u2019s past, had a sense of it. They\u2019ve shown that, at 1C, sea levels were \u202f1 to 3 metres higher than today; at 1.5C, 6 to 9 metres, and at 2C, 20 metres or more. For coastal countries like Bangladesh, Pakistan, India, and China, 2C is far too high.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We\u2019ve since learned that glaciers are even more sensitive. If we stay at 1.5C for any length of time, we\u2019ll lose a third of the glaciers in this region, and a lot of snowpack, which is crucial. Permafrost is also loosening, triggering avalanches, with terrible impacts downstream. It will be difficult to stay within 1.5C. But I listen to the atmospheric scientists: when they tell me it\u2019s out of reach, I\u2019ll say it\u2019s out of reach. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some pathways are still open. One of my biggest concerns is that we don\u2019t know how glaciers in this region will respond if we overshoot 1.5C. Some troubling research shows that even if we limit temperatures, the glaciers won\u2019t fully recover. We shouldn\u2019t think it\u2019s OK to go up to 2C or 2.5C and come down later. The glaciers will stay lost for hundreds of years. That\u2019s why it\u2019s urgent not to overshoot; doing so would be like sleepwalking into disaster, especially in this region. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

What should early-career researchers do to have the greatest impact on those in power?\u202f<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Early-career researchers are really inspiring. When I first started, many older cryosphere\u202fscientists were cautious and careful. Many have grown much more comfortable about speaking out. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

But most early-career researchers already see public engagement as part of the job. They go into schools [to speak], and many are really good at it. That\u2019s a big change. First, find those opportunities and practice. Second, when designing your research, think about how it can be used by policymakers. Third \u2013 and this is critical, especially in these political times \u2013 we have to be clear: physics doesn\u2019t lie. Ice melts at 0C; you can\u2019t wish that away. This isn\u2019t about politics, it\u2019s about physical reality. If we don\u2019t bring temperatures down, more of the cryosphere will cross that threshold, and the more we\u2019ll lose \u2013 in many cases irreversibly.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How far have we come on negotiations \u2013 have they improved? Has the cryosphere gained more limelight? \u202f<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

We\u2019re not where we should be; CO2 is still rising. Emissions reductions aren\u2019t really happening. But knowledge of the cryosphere is growing. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

We\u2019ve done well at engaging different generations of politicians. But they leave, resign, or get voted out, and then we need to bring new ones on board. That\u2019s part of the job.

As scientists, you need to keep orienting policymakers at every chance, until it breaks through to enough people in power who are willing to act. It’s hard. The question is, will it happen in time to save the glaciers?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Can you talk about 2025 \u2013 this critical year for international glacier preservation \u2013 and your role leading Taskforce 4 [IYGP\u2019s policy advocacy, partnerships and resources mobilisation team]?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

By luck or by design, 2025 \u2013 the International Year \u2013 is also the start of the next commitment period under the Paris Agreement. Governments will be coming to Belem, Brazil, with new climate pledges for 2030-2035. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

A couple of things: Nationally Determined Contributions need a course correction. The pledges made five years ago need to be strengthened, or we\u2019ll be off track for 1.5C. If we\u2019re extremely unlucky, climate sensitivity may be greater than we thought. So this is a really good year to talk about glaciers, and how they respond.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s easy for people to think this is far away and won\u2019t impact them, but they won\u2019t be the last to suffer if we keep going like this.<\/blockquote>Pam Pearson<\/cite><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

My biggest battle as head of Taskforce 4 is reminding people that there\u2019s only one way to preserve glaciers: emissions reductions. This isn\u2019t the year of glacier observation or glacier monitoring; the only way is to radically cut emissions. We should be cutting emissions by half by 2030 to have a 50-50 chance of never exceeding 1.5C.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Belem, of course, is in the Amazon, fed by the Andes glaciers. It\u2019s very low right now due to drought; almost the only water left, if it\u2019s not raining, is what comes down from the mountains. We\u2019re trying to send a hard-hitting message \u2013 from the glaciated nations meeting in Kathmandu for the Sagarmatha Sambaad [a global forum organised by the government of Nepal] in May, and later in Dushanbe [the capital of Tajikistan] \u2013 about how urgent it is to bring temperatures down.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s important for people to understand this isn\u2019t just a mountain issue. Mountain Indigenous Peoples are saying: \u201cWe\u2019re suffering now, but you will suffer in future.\u201d It\u2019s easy for people to think this is far away and won\u2019t impact them, but they won\u2019t be the last to suffer if we keep going like this.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What should we be doing? <\/h3>\n\n\n\n

More than ever, it\u2019s important to communicate \u2013 whether with your own family, in your own school, or by volunteering to speak at schools or local community groups. The most important thing is to demand action. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Politicians keep saying: \u201cFive years ago, we had Greta Thunberg and young people marching \u2013 and now it\u2019s all petered out.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

We need to keep that energy going and grow it. At the end of the day, that\u2019s what the political set listen to. If this becomes one of the top three issues people care about, it will break through. We must maintain momentum. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

We also need to help people understand: it\u2019s bad now, but it will get worse. People are beginning to see what a 1.5C world looks like, and they don\u2019t much like it. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

And the more we do now, the less we\u2019ll have to do later\u2026<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Yes, and the less expensive it will be. Early-career scientists are important, but early-career economists too. We need them to set out the costs of mitigation, adaptation and loss and damage at 1.5C versus 2C. It\u2019s so much easier \u2013 and cheaper \u2013 to act now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is an edited version of a discussion held at ICIMOD on 27 February 2025. <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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