Antarctica Was Ice-Free 34 Million Years Ago Before Carbon Dioxide Declines and Tectonic Isolation Triggered Its Icy Transformation Devamını Oku
The United Nations General Assembly adopted a historic “Pact for the Future” on Sunday, marking a significant milestone toward enhanced global cooperation. U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres hailed the agreement as a “step-change towards more effective, inclusive, networked multilateralism,” aimed at addressing the world’s most pressing challenges. The pact, adopted without a vote at the start of the two-day Summit of the Future, is the result of nine months of intense negotiations.
Guterres emphasized the urgency of the pact, stating, “We are here to bring multilateralism back from the brink.” He has long advocated for the summit and the agreement, which encompasses key themes such as peace and security, global governance, climate change, digital cooperation, human rights, gender equality, youth, and future generations. The pact includes 56 broad actions that nations have committed to implementing.
The “Pact for the Future” is a timely response to mounting global crises that demand stronger multilateralism and U.N. reform. It focuses on reinforcing the multilateral system, with the United Nations and its Charter at its core, ensuring that international institutions remain fit for purpose in a rapidly changing world. The pact also includes a framework for responsible and sustainable digital cooperation, reflecting the increasing importance of technology governance.
“We recognize that the multilateral system and its institutions, with the United Nations and its Charter at the centre, must be strengthened to keep pace with a changing world. They must be fit for the present and the future – effective and capable, prepared for the future, just, democratic, equitable and representative of today’s world, inclusive, interconnected and financially stable.
“Today, we pledge a new beginning in multilateralism. The actions in this Pact aim to ensure that the United Nations and other key multilateral institutions can deliver a better future for people and planet, enabling us to fulfil our existing commitments while rising to new and emerging challenges and opportunities.”
Global challenges such as ongoing wars in Ukraine, Gaza, and Sudan, insufficient climate change mitigation efforts, growing national debt issues, and rapid technological advancements without adequate governance have underscored the need for U.N. reform and a reimagined global cooperation framework.
Despite widespread support for the pact, Russia’s Deputy Foreign Affairs Minister Sergey Vershinin criticized the negotiations and the adoption of the agreement. Russia’s attempt to include an amendment—backed by countries like North Korea, Syria, Nicaragua, Belarus, and Iran—failed. The amendment sought to explicitly state that “the United Nations and its system shall not intervene in matters which are essentially within the domestic jurisdiction of any state.”
Scientists studying Antarctica’s Thwaites Glacier, often referred to as the “Doomsday Glacier,” have uncovered troubling signs that it is melting at an accelerating pace and may be on a path of irreversible collapse. This could have devastating implications for global sea levels. The glacier holds enough ice to raise sea levels by over 2 feet, but its collapse could trigger a much larger increase, potentially up to 10 feet, due to its role as a barrier for the vast Antarctic Ice Sheet. Such a rise in sea levels would threaten coastal communities worldwide, from Miami to the Pacific Islands.
Over the past six years, researchers from the International Thwaites Glacier Collaboration (ITGC) have used cutting-edge technology, including underwater robots like Icefin, to study the glacier’s vulnerabilities. Their findings, described as “grim,” suggest that the glacier is melting faster than previously understood, with warm ocean waters eroding the ice through deep cracks and formations. These mechanisms are contributing to rapid ice loss and could lead to the glacier’s collapse within 200 years.
Though there are some positive signs — like a lower-than-expected risk of towering ice cliffs collapsing rapidly into the ocean — the overall outlook remains dire. The research also revealed that Thwaites began retreating as early as the 1940s, possibly triggered by a strong El Niño event. Despite progress in understanding the glacier, scientists are still unsure if its retreat is now unstoppable, with many fearing that the glacier’s collapse could be inevitable even if humanity reduces carbon emissions.
The study’s conclusion: urgent action is needed, but the future of Thwaites and its global impact remains uncertain.