India, March 21 -- The past three years have witnessed the largest loss of glacier mass on record, according to the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO).

WMO and the World Glacier Monitoring Service (WGMS) reported on Friday that many regions' so-called "eternal ice" will not survive the 21st century. The announcement coincided with the first-ever World Glaciers Day.

Five of the past six years have seen the most rapid glacier retreat ever recorded, the WMO said. More than 275,000 glaciers worldwide cover approximately 700,000 square kilometres.

"Together with ice sheets, glaciers store about 70% of the global freshwater resources. High mountain regions are the world's water towers," the WMO said.

The organisation warned that glacie...