{"id":401019,"date":"2023-11-02T14:00:00","date_gmt":"2023-11-02T14:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/?p=401019"},"modified":"-0001-11-30T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"-0001-11-29T14:00:00","slug":"UN-chief-visits-tallest-mountains-in-Nepal-and-expresses-alarm-over-melting-glaciers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/UN-chief-visits-tallest-mountains-in-Nepal-and-expresses-alarm-over-melting-glaciers\/","title":{"rendered":"UN chief visits tallest mountains in Nepal and expresses alarm over melting glaciers"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>KATHMANDU, Nepal<\/strong> (AP) \u2014The U.N. chief said Tuesday after touring the highest peaks in Nepal that the world should end the fossil fuel age to curb what he says is a devastating level of melting of glaciers in the Himalayan mountains due to global warming.<\/p>\n<p>U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres addressed Nepal\u2019s parliament after flying past Mount Everest, the world\u2019s highest peak, on Monday and touring the base camp of Mount Annapurna, the world\u2019s 10th highest, on Tuesday.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cGlaciers are melting at records. I was a witness,\u201d Guterres said in his address. \u201cThe effect is devastating. Swollen lakes bursting, rivers and seas rising, cultures threatened. And mountainsides exposed, inflaming the risk of rock slides, landslides and avalanche.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Guterres visited towns including Pokhara where where trekkers begin journeys in the Mount Annapurna region, and met with local groups to discuss environmental issues, including protecting the Himalayan glaciers that provide fresh water to over a billion people.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI am here today to cry out from the rooftop of the world: Stop the madness,\u201d Guterres said. \u201cThe glaciers are retreating, but we cannot,\u201d he said. \u201cWe must end the fossil fuel age.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>A report earlier this year by the Nepal-based International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development said that Himalayan glaciers could lose up to 80% of their glaciers if the earth warms by 4 degrees Celsius in coming decades or centuries.<\/p>\n<p>Guterres urged countries to stick to commitments under the 2015 Paris climate conference to control carbon emissions to keep warming down to 1.5 degrees (2.7 degrees F).<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe must act now to protect people on the frontline. And to limit global temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius,\u201d Guterres said.<\/p>\n<p>Scientists warn that flash floods and avalanches could become more likely in coming years, in part due to climate change.<\/p>\n<p>Guterres also appealed to the international community to donate funding to help build resilience in affected communities.<\/p>\n<figure style=\"width: 480px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft\" src=\"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/images\/imgupload\/4d1c693b5f0f38ada89c971fc34389c5.jpg\" width=\"480\" height=\"360\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\"><\/p>\n<p>U.N. Secretary-General Ant\u00f3nio Guterres visits Annapurna base camp, around 3,230 metres (10,600 feet) above sea level in Nepal, Tuesday, Oct. 31, 2023.<\/p>\n<p>-Yunish Gurung<br \/><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>KATHMANDU, Nepal (AP) \u2014The U.N. chief said Tuesday after touring the highest peaks in Nepal&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-401019","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/401019","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=401019"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/401019\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=401019"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=401019"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=401019"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}