Vienna, May 14 (IANS): Petteri Taalas, Secretary-General of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), warned that Austrian glaciers are likely to disappear entirely by the end of this century due to global warming.

Speaking to Austrian media on Friday, Taalas said that the melting of glaciers and polar ice will "continue for centuries" in spite of the fight against climate change, and he "has no more hope for the Austrian glaciers", reports Xinhua news agency

Glaciers in Switzerland, another Alpine country, are also expected to shrink to only 5 per cent of their current size by the end of the century, he said.

The melting of glaciers will impact the supply of drinking water and electricity production and raise the sea level, threatening a number of megacities, the WMO chief warned.

However, the WMO Secretary-General said he remains cautiously optimistic about the global efforts to mitigate climate change, with politicians' strong climate pledges at the Glasgow climate conference held in UK in 2021 and private companies' technological advances.