The Pontifical Academy of Sciences and global change

Fate of Mountain Glaciers in the Anthropocene  A working group convened by the Pontifical Academy of Sciences calls upon all people and nations to recognize the serious and potentially irreversible impact of global warming caused by anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions.

The working group, consisting of glaciologists, climate scientists, meteorologists, hydrologists, physicists, chemists, mountaineers, and lawyers, was organized by the Pontifical Academy of Sciences at the Vatican to contemplate the observed retreat of mountain glaciers, its causes, and consequences. The May 11 declaration by the working group "appeals to all nations to develop and implement, without delay, effective and fair policies to reduce the causes and impacts of climate change on communities and ecosystems, including mountain glaciers and their watersheds, aware that we all live in the same home. By acting now, in the spirit of common but differentiated responsibility, we accept our duty to one another and to the stewardship of a planet blessed with the gift of life."

See the report by the Working Group Commissioned by the Pontifical Academy of Sciences,

• Fate of Mountain Glaciers in the Anthropocene

as well as the

• Program and list of participants of the 2–4 April 2011 Vatican workshop.

 

The related New York Times story:

• Green Smoke Sighted as Vatican Releases Glacier Report