Tibetan Glacial Melt Rate Accelerating - 50 Sq. Miles Annually: Snow Line Rising - AFP

[hatrack]

China's rugged Tibet plateau, seen as a sensitive barometer of world climate conditions, is experiencing accelerating glacial melt and other ecological change, state media reported on Friday. The mountainous region's glaciers have been melting at an average rate of 131.4 square kilometres (50 square miles) per year over the past 30 years, the People's Daily said, citing a geological study of the region.

Researchers who conducted the survey said that even if global warming did not worsen, the area's glaciers would be reduced by nearly a third by 2050, and up to half by 2090, at the current rate.

The survey, conducted by the Remote Sensing Department of the China Aero Geophysical Survey, also found a rapidly rising snow line, shrinking wetlands, and increased desertification compared with 30 years ago, the paper said.

EDIT

The snow line on the edges of the plateau had retreated an average 100 to 150 metres, but up to 350 metres in some areas, while wetlands had been reduced by 10 percent, the report said.

EDIT

http://www.terradaily.com/2006/070105074148.6jiav9zs.html

[kestrel91316]

1. That's ok. Glaciers are just useless wastelands of ice.

There's no corporate profits to be gained from them, so let them disappear.

:sarcasm:

[YankeyMCC]

2. k n r