Antarctic glacier named 'Glasgow' as stark reminder of climate crisis ahead of COP26

A glacier in Antarctica on October 31 was formally named after the city of Glasgow to commemorate the hosting of the COP26 climate change conference and raise awareness about the rising world’s temperatures. Glasgow glacier is one of nine regions that are now facing diminishing ice in the Getz basin. More than 100 world leaders and thousands of delegates to the 26th UN Climate Change Conference of Parties will gather to pledge the carbon emissions targets to reduce the climatic threats. “Chain of fast-flowing Antarctic glaciers named for important climate meetings including Glasgow, Geneva, Paris, and Berlin,” UK’s 10 Downing Street informed in a release on Saturday, adding that these glaciers were studied by scientists from the University of Leeds who put forward climate-themed names with the support of the UK Government. 

“While the world gathers in Glasgow over the next fortnight to make progress on tackling climate change, 10,000 miles away the city’s namesake will provide a stark reminder of why urgent action is needed,” the UK government stated in a release on October 31. 

14 glaciers in the Getz basin of West Antarctica impacted by climate change 

UK’s PhD researcher Heather Selley had earlier identified 14 glaciers in the Getz basin of West Antarctica that the environmentalists have sounded an alarm about, as its melting sped up by an average of 25% between 1994 and 2018 due to climate change. “315 gigatonnes of ice has been lost from the region over the last 25 years, the equivalent of 126 million Olympic-sized swimming pools of water to the world’s oceans,” the UK government said, citing the scientific analysis. 

“By naming this glittering giant of nature after the city where next week humankind will gather to fight for the future of the planet, we have a stark reminder of what we are working to preserve,” UK’s Prime Minister Boris Johnson said. 

“Glasgow represents our best chance. Just as the G20 shares a collective responsibility to act, so the solutions are in our hands. I hope countries will gather next week in a spirit of responsibility and ambition so we can keep the goal of 1.5 degrees alive,” he added. 

Furthermore, UK’s government stated that scientists Heather Selley and Dr Anna Hogg requested that the nine unnamed glaciers in her study be named for the locations of major climate treaties, reports, and conferences, the most recent being in Glasgow. The proposal, submitted to UK Government has been supported by the UK Antarctic Place-names Committee. These names will also be added to the international Composite Gazetteer for Antarctica, for use on maps, charts, and future publications.

“Naming the glaciers after the locations of major climate treaties, conferences and reports is a great way to celebrate the international collaboration on climate change science and policy over the last 42 years,” said the UK’s University of Leeds researcher Heather Selley. “We wanted to permanently mark the outstanding effort the scientific community has put into measuring the present-day impact of climate change and its predicted future evolution,” she added. 

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