Glaciers in the Qinghai - Tibet Plateau in Yangtze source area, have receded 196 sq.kms over the last 40 years!
Glaciers at the headwaters of the Yangtze, China's longest river, now cover 1,051 square km compared to 1,247 square km in 1971, a loss of nearly a billion cubic metres of water.
The tongue of the Yuzhu glacier, the highest in the Kunlun Mountains, fell by 1,500 metres over the same period, showed the study
In the short term, melting glacier waters brings more fresh water to rivers, but as the source dies down, the river beds will dry out and have droughts every cycle. This will disturb the population around the banks and the agricultural patterns, which depend on the river as a lifeline. On the other hand melting water in glaciers are also submerging pastures in higher Himalayas impacting the domestic, trade, fauna and flora of the regions. Tibet today faces this problem where Glaciers and their rapid cooling are causing changes both in life and economy of the country.
While Tibet is the just the stating bell, this is an ominous sound of coming disaster which will impact the planet as a whole. As they retreat, glacial lakes will burst, debris and ice will fall in avalanches, rivers will flood and then dry up, and sea levels will rise even further, say the climate experts. Communities will be deprived of essential water, crops will be ruined and power stations which rely on river flows paralysed.
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