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Tibetian Warming Trend Gaining Pace
Beijing (AFP) Jul 23, 2007 Tibet, the mountainous region whose snows and glaciers give birth to several of Asia's major rivers, is warming at an alarming rate, China's state media reported Sunday, citing a new survey. Average annual temperatures in Tibet are rising at a rate of 0.3 degrees Celsius (0.54 degrees Fahrenheit) every ten years due to global warming, Xinhua news agency said, citing a report by the Tibet Meteorological Bureau. The report, called "Tibet's Climate Under the Global Warming Trend," said the rate is far faster than in the rest of China and the world generally. By comparison, China's average temperatures are rising by 0.4 degrees Celsius every 100 years, while a report by the UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has said average global surface temperatures have risen 0.74 degrees over the past 100 years. "The Tibet climate shows a warming trend under global warming," Zhang Hezhen, a senior engineer with the bureau, was quoted as saying. Tibet's sensitive alpine environment is seen as a key barometer of the world's climate. Average temperatures in various parts of Tibet last winter ranged from 0.5 to 2.8 degrees Celsius higher than normal, while the region as a whole was 1.6 degrees Celsius warmer than usual. Four of Tibet's five warmest winters of the past 35 years have occurred since 2000, the survey said. In the capital, Lhasa, average temperatures have risen from 7.7 degrees Celsius in the 1970s to 8.4 degrees in the 1990s and 8.9 degrees over the past six years. The report is the latest sobering indication of climate change on the plateau, which scientists say could have a severe impact on the sustainability of water supplies in the region due to accelerated warming of glaciers and decreasing snow cover. Another official study in January said the 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, and could be reduced by half by 2090. Among the many rivers that start from the Tibet plateau are the Yangtze, Ganges, Mekong, Brahmaputra, and Indus.
Source: Agence France-Presse Community Email This Article Comment On This Article Related Links Beyond the Ice Age
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