Glaciers across the world will be 'unavoidably lost' by 2050

Mount Kilimanjaro is Africa's highest free standing mountain at 5,895 metres.

Glaciers across the globe are under threat, with ice retreating faster than previously predicted.

Mount Kilimanjaro, in the heart of Tanzania, has them. But according to a new UN report, probably not for much longer.

The report blames climate change, saying the retreat and disappearance of glaciers was "among the most dramatic evidence that Earth's climate is warming".

Published by the UN (United Nations) it uses data from satellites. These images have been tracking the retreat of glaciers over decades.

The data is not just focused on the impact climate change is having on Mount Kilimanjaro's icy peaks but other Unesco World Heritage Sites too.

It's estimated a third of its glacial sites will have melted completely in less than 30 years.

This includes glaciers in regions such as the Pyrenees, a mountain range between France and Spain, the Dolomites in the Italian Alps and Yellowstone National Park in America.

The report says that no matter what we do to combat climate change these glaciers will be lost.

However the other two-thirds could be saved, only if the world limits global warming to 1.5C, the authors say.

"There's a message of hope here," said Carvalho Resende. "If we can manage to drastically cut emissions, we will be able to save most of these glaciers."

"This is really a call to take action at every level - not only at the political level, but at our level as human beings."

The glaciers at Yosemite National Park are melting at an increased rate

Glacier loss is a big issue because these glaciers lose 58 billion tonnes of ice every year. That is a problem for local people, who depend on the glaciers for their freshwater, for drinking and for food production.

Rapid melting can threaten their homes with flooding, and once it does all melt a reliable source of fresh water will have gone.

The report suggests this melting is linked to sea level rises over the last 20 years.

Global leaders are due to meet at the upcoming COP27 climate conference in Egypt, a year on from their meetings in Glasgow at COP26, to try and agree a way forward.