5 August, 2009

Melting glaciers in the Himalayas could lead to water shortages for hundreds of millions of people and cause floods followed by droughts in India, China and Nepal in the near future, according to a recent report

Global warming as well as debris and rubbish left by tourists in the neighbouring areas are posing a serious threat to the glaciers that feed seven great Asian rivers.

Research groups from India and China were working on a collaborative research programme to study into the health of the glaciers.

The Indian Space Research Organisation and the department of science and technology have been employed to study glacial conditions across eastern and western Himalayas.

Indian minister of state for environment and forests Jairam Ramesh said: "We are talking to the Chinese about monitoring the Himalayan glaciers."

Ramesh, who plans to visit China this month, said that the Indian Government would discuss water resources with its neighbour.

Original article at:  http://www.nce.co.uk/news/water/melting-himalayan-glaciers-could-lead-to-floods-followed-by-drought-for-china-india-and-nepal/5206255.article

The Qinghai-Tibet Plateau has been one of the worst-affected zones in the world by global climatic changes because of its unique landforms, terrains and environmental features.

It has 50,000 sq km of glaciers, mainly located in Mt. Kunlun and the Himalayas. In the past ten decades, the glaciers on the plateau have shrunk by 30 percent. Experts predict that glaciers throughout China will shrink by 45 percent from today, if the temperature increases by 2.1 to 4 degrees at the end of the 21st century.This remark was made by Yu Xinwen, spokesman for the China Meteorological Administration.

Statistics released Monday by the administration showed that extreme high temperatures hit most areas of Tibet in July, with the average temperature rising to the record high in the corresponding period since 1951. Meanwhile, rainfall in western and southern Tibet plunged by 30 to 80 percent, compared with the same period in previous years.

Yu also urged the international community to pay closer attention to various kinds of nature warning signals, such as glacier shrinkage and eco-environment deterioration.

Apart from global warming, abnormal atmospheric circulation also has resulted in the high temperature on the plateau since last month. The snow accumulation from last winter to this spring was less than the same period in previous years, said Chen Lijuan, senior engineer of the administration's National Climate Center.

Source: Xinhua - August 2009

Original article at:  http://chinatibet.people.com.cn/6718277.html

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