The China Glaciers area has been reduced by 26% since 1960 due to the rapid global warming, with 7,000 small glaciers disappearing completely and the glacial withdrawal that intensifies in recent years, according to official data published in March.
Glaciers around the world are disappearing faster than ever, with the greatest loss of glacial mass recorded in the last three years, according to a UNESCO report.
As important water towers continue to be reduced, fresh water availability is expected to contribute to greater competition for water resources, environmental groups warned. Glacier withdrawal also raises new disaster risks.
China’s glaciers are mainly in the west and north of the country, in the regions of Tibet and Xinjiang, and the provinces of Sichuan, Yunnan, Gansu and Qinghai.
The data published on March 21 on the website of the Northwest Institute of the Ecoambiente and the resources of the China Academy of Sciences showed that the China Total Glacier Area was around 46,000 square kilometers, with around 69,000 glaciers in 2020.
This compares with around 59,000 square kilometers and around 46,000 glaciers in China between 1960 and 1980, according to the study.
To save its merger glaciers, China has used technology, including snow blankets and artificial snow systems, to delay the merger process.
The Tibetan Plateau is known as the third pole of the world for the amount of ice locked in the desert at great altitude.
It is expected that the dramatic loss of ice, from the Arctic to the Alps, from South America to the Tibetan plateau, accelerates as climate change, caused by burning fossil fuels, pushes the highest global temperatures.
This would probably exacerbate economic, environmental and social problems worldwide as sea level and these key water sources decrease, said UNESCO’s report.
