Posted on May, 17 2006

Global warming is rapidly melting the glaciers of the Tibetan plateau and turning it into desert, leading scientists have revealed. As the glaciers melt and Asia’s great rivers dry up, the scientists warn of an ecological catastrophe across the continent.

According to the Chinese Academy of Sciences, these glaciers are vanishing at high speed. They are projected to reduce by 50 per cent every decade. The water melting from them per year is enough to fill the entire Yellow River.

Vast environmental changes brought about by the process will increase droughts and sandstorms and devastate many of the world's greatest rivers. Experts already predict an “ecological catastrophe”.

The glaciers of the Tibetan plateau are also referred to as “roof of the world”. The plateau has 46,298 glaciers and makes up the largest area of ice outside the Polar regions - nearly a sixth of the world's total.

As the world has gradually warmed up, the glaciers have been on a constant decrease. As average temperatures in Tibet have risen by about 1oC over the past 20 years, the process has accelerated alarmingly. Now the glaciers are projected to halve every 10 years.

The melting glaciers threaten to trigger more droughts, expand desertification and increase sand storms. Over the first months of his year, 13 sand storms have hit northern China, dumping tons of dust on cities and causing dangerous air pollution.

The melting also threatens to disrupt water supplies over much of Asia. Some of the world’s greatest rivers (e.g. Yangtze, Indus, Ganges, Brahmaputra, and Mekong) depend on the plateau.

300 million Chinese people need the water from the glaciers for their survival. However, the plateau is drying up, putting the livelihoods of these people at serious risk. Already 400 cities are short of water; in 100 of them the shortages are critical.

In a report published in March 2005, WWF warned that glaciers in the region of the Himalayas are receding at an average rate of 10–15 metres per year. This will eventually result in water shortages for hundreds of millions of people who rely on glacier-dependent rivers in China, India and Nepal. The findings of the WWF report match the dire projections by the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

Jennifer Morgan, WWF Climate Change Program Director, points out: “Ministers should realize now that the world faces an economic and development catastrophe if the rate of global warming isn't reduced. They need to work together on reducing CO₂ emissions, increasing the use of renewable energy and implementing energy efficiency measures."