Glacier meltdown risks food and water supply of 2 billion people, says UN

A chunk of ice floats past the Portage glacier near Girdwood, Alaska. Two-thirds of all irrigated agriculture in the world is likely to be affected in some way by receding glaciers. Photograph: Mark Thiessen/AP

Retreating glaciers threaten the food and water supply of 2 billion people around the world, the UN has warned, as current “unprecedented” rates of melting will have unpredictable consequences.

Two-thirds of all irrigated agriculture in the world is likely to be affected in some way by receding glaciers and dwindling snowfall in mountain regions, driven by the climate crisis, according to a Unesco report.