The United Nations is working to map glaciers in northern Pakistan to quantify the melting of ice caused by warming temperatures and set up early-warning systems to help the recently flood-hit nation adapt better to future climate risks. The UN Development Program plans to map 5,000 glaciers in the next 18 months, said Knut Ostby, the agency’s resident representative in Pakistan. The South Asian nation is home to the world’s largest number of glaciers. The exercise takes on urgency because rapid glacial melt has formed several lakes in the mountains, adding to higher flood risks in the lower reaches. This year unprecedented flooding has devastated Pakistan — killing more than 1,500 since June and causing damage estimated to be well over $10 billion as nearly one-third of the country was inundated by the deluge. The climate catastrophe laid bare the country’s climate vulnerability and its lack of preparedness. The plan will help with “ideas on how to find a comprehensive solution to the melting of what we call the third pole,” said Ostby, referring to the snow-covered Hindu Kush-Himalaya-Karakoram mountains of South Asia. Read more at the link in our bio or visit: bloomberg.com/green 📷: Abdul Majeed/AFP/Getty Images