Climate Change Threatens Tibet Glaciers
2009-11-30 9:54
The glaciers on China's Qinghai-Tibet Plateau are quickly disappearing.
As a result of climate change, more than 100 square miles have vanished over the past 40 years, according to China’s state-run media.
Liu Faming has been working at the ecosystem observation station on the plateau's Gongga Mountain for 15 years.
His daily work is collecting data on air temperature, humidity, wind force, rainfall and the earth's temperature.
[Liu Faming, Mt. Gongga Ecosystem Observation Station]:
"The temperature has gone up in recent years. It is getting warmer and warmer. It used to be really cold in the mountains, but it's very warm now. The glaciers are retreating."
Gongga Mountain stands almost 25-thousand feet above sea level, while Hailuogou Glacier, the biggest on the mountain, has become a hot tourist destination.
A cable car ride takes curious tourists to an ice fall every day, but for locals like Wang Jun, its beauty has changed over time.
[Wang Jun, Villager]:
"The city gate-shaped part of the glacier is gone. The glaciers are melting slowly day by day. The weather has changed a lot. The temperature remains more or less the same throughout the year. It is not cold in winter anymore. There used to be a lot of ice in winter, but not any more."
Scientists from China's Institute of Sciences say the Hailuogou glacier has receded by 20 meters on average every year since 1990, with the speed accelerating in recent years.
China has overtaken the U.S. as the world's top emitter of human-generated greenhouse gases, with eyes on how it will address eco-policy ahead.
A United Nations climate report released in 2007 suggested action by China and other nations may be essential, with Himalayan glaciers possibly disappearing by the year 2035 or even earlier.
