Submitted by: Michael G. McManus (FG Staff Journalist)

From: The BBC

Hundreds of millions of livelihoods will be affected by declining snow and ice cover as a result of global warming, a UN report has warned.

The risks facing people included losing access to drinking water, and rising sea levels, the study concluded.

The findings were published by the UN’s Environment Programme (Unep).

Unep chief Achim Steiner said the report showed that time was running out for political leaders to reach a global agreement on curbing emissions.

Mr Steiner made his call for action at the launch of the UN Global Outlook for Ice and Snow report, which was being held in Tromso, Norway.

“The report underlines that the fate of the world’s snowy and icy places in a climatically challenged world should be cause for concern in every ministry, boardroom and living room across the world,” he said.

“The missing link is universal political action. Today’s report should empower the public to take their leaders to task [and] should empower them to ask how much hotter it has to get before we act.”

Read the full story from the BBC.