Welcome to the first day of spring—and the first-ever World Day for Glaciers!
This global event, part of the United Nations’ International Year of Glaciers’ Preservation 2025, couldn’t come at a more critical time. The past decade has shattered temperature records year after year, with 2024 officially ranking as the hottest year in history.
And let’s be real—ice and extreme heat don’t mix. Here in Alberta, our glaciers are vanishing before our eyes. The Peyto Glacier in Banff National Park, an icon of the Rockies, could disappear entirely within ten years.
The UN’s message is clear: glaciers are melting, and the consequences will be felt everywhere—from here at home to the most remote corners of the world. Today is more than just another change of the season, it’s a wake-up call.
Alberta Roots
The United Nations didn’t just randomly pick 2025 as the International Year of Glaciers’ Preservation—it’s the result of years of scientific concern and diplomatic effort, with Canadian researchers playing a key role.
Believe it or not, the idea first took shape in Alberta over beers at a pub in Canmore.
“Like many things, it started at the Rose & Crown in Canmore over a beer,” said John Pomeroy, a distinguished professor and research chair at the University of Saskatchewan.
He and fellow climate scientist Bob Sandford first floated the idea in a casual conversation that would eventually gain international traction. Fast forward, and the Republic of Tajikistan formally proposed the resolution, which the UN Member States unanimously adopted in December 2022.
What started as a simple conversation in a local Alberta pub has become a global movement—a testament to the power of ideas (and maybe a good pint).
The Accelerating Global Glacier Crisis
Glaciers worldwide are disappearing at an alarming rate, and the latest research—especially from scientists Pomeray and Sanford—makes it clear that ice loss is accelerating.
Over the past decade, glaciers have been melting much more quickly than before, with ice loss surging by about 36% between 2012 and 2023 compared to the previous period from 2000 to 2011. To put that into perspective, glaciers are shedding around 273 billion tons of ice every year—enough to meet the entire world’s water consumption for the next 30 years!
Since 2000, Earth’s glaciers have lost roughly 5% of their total volume, though the impact varies dramatically by region. While Antarctica has seen a 2% decline, the European Alps have been hit especially hard, losing a staggering 40% of their ice.
University of Zurich professor Michael Zemp didn’t mince words when he called these findings “shocking.” He warned that glacier melt this century could be even worse than the UN’s climate experts had predicted. If these trends continue, the consequences for sea levels, ecosystems, and the millions of people who rely on glacier-fed water sources could be devastating.
Alberta’s Vanishing Ice
For Albertans, rapid glacial melting is unfolding in our backyard.
Once crowned with magnificent ice fields, the Canadian Rocky Mountains are rapidly losing their glacial cover. Climate scientists predict that approximately 80% of Alberta, British Columbia, and Yukon mountain glaciers will disappear within 50 years..
The Peyto Glacier in Banff National Park offers a stark example of this transformation. This iconic glacier has lost about 70% of its mass in the last half-century alone. David Hik, an ecology professor at Simon Fraser University, describes the region as “one of the hotspots for warming” where “the magnitude of change in the glaciers is dramatic.”
Worldwide, mountain regions are experiencing both less snowfall and faster melting during the summer months. This combination is causing glaciers to recede dramatically in both length and volume.
What’s particularly concerning for scientists studying the Canadian Rockies is that warming in mountainous areas is occurring at a rate similar to the Arctic – two to three times faster than the global average. This intensified warming means changes that might take centuries elsewhere are happening within decades in Alberta’s mountains.
Why Preserving Glaciers Matters
Glaciers store approximately 70% of the world’s freshwater globally, providing billions of people with drinking water, irrigation, and hydropower, especially in regions dependent on seasonal meltwater. They regulate sea levels, and their accelerated melting contributes directly to rising oceans, threatening coastal communities worldwide..
For Alberta specifically, glaciers feed our major river systems during critical summer months when rainfall is scarce and demand is high. As these natural reservoirs shrink, we face increasing water challenges for our already drought-parched landscape.
Understanding why we should care about glaciers helps explain the UN’s decision to spotlight their preservation. Glaciers aren’t just majestic features of our landscape; they’re vital components of Earth’s life-support systems.
Awareness and Action
The International Year of Glaciers’ Preservation aims to translate awareness into action.
High-level events are scheduled in Paris at UNESCO Headquarters and in New York at the United Nations Headquarters on March 20-21, 2025, focusing on the state of the world’s glaciers and their impact on global water security, communities, and ecosystems.
Canada has enthusiastically embraced this global initiative.
In January 2025, the Whyte Museum of the Canadian Rockies and Guardians of the Ice hosted both a high-level launch and public engagement to connect local stakeholders and foster conversations around glacier preservation.
The conversation that began in a Canmore pub has now evolved into a global movement. Bob Sandford, who now holds the Global Water Futures Chair in Water and Climate Security at the United Nations University Institute, noted that addressing climate goals moves at a “glacial pace” – unfortunately, the changing climate itself does not.
The first World Day for Glaciers reminds us that time is of the essence to address our rapidly vanishing ice.
