China’s glacier area has been shrunk by 26% since 1960 due to rapid global warming, with 7,000 small glaciers completely disappearing, and glaciers are intensified in recent years, official data released in March showed.
Glaciers across the globe disappear faster than ever, with the largest glacial loss on a record that takes place in the last three years, according to a UNESCO report.
As the important water towers continue to shrink, less availability of fresh water is expected to contribute to greater competition for water resources, environmental groups have warned. Glacier retreat also constitutes new disaster risks.
China’s glaciers are mainly located in the west and north of the country in the regions of Tibet and Xinjiang and the provinces of Sichuan, Yunnan, Gansu and Qinghai.
Data published on March 21 at the Northwest Institute of Eco-Environment and Resources site at the Chinese Academy of Sciences showed that China’s total glacier area was about 46,000 square kilometers, with about 69,000 glaciers in 2020.
This is compared to about 59,000 square kilometers and about 46,000 glaciers in China between 1960 and 1980, the study showed.
To save its melting glaciers, China has used technology, including snow blankets and artificial snow systems, to delay the melting process.
The Tibetan Plateau is known as the world’s third pole for the amount of ice cream that has long been locked at the high altitude wilderness.
The dramatic ISTAB, from the Arctic to the Alps, from South America to the Tibetan plateau, is expected to accelerate as climate change caused by fossil fuels is pushing global temperatures higher.
This would probably aggravate economic, environmental and social problems around the world as the sea level rises and these central water sources are subsidiarizing, the UNESCO report says.
