China glacier melt speeds up in 'wake-up call' for world - Greenpeace

(Reuters, 20 Nov 2018) Glaciers in the Qinghai-Tibet plateau have shrunk 15 percent as a result of rising temperatures over the last 50 years.

Glacier melt at major sites in western China is accelerating fast, Greenpeace said on Tuesday, prompting thousands to evacuate in recent months and underscoring the vulnerability to climate change in a "wake-up call" for the world.

Satellite analysis showed that the rate of retreat at glaciers in China's remote western regions had more than doubled, Greenpeace said, with the annual rate at the Tianshan Glacier No. 1 in Xinjiang rising from an average of 5,000 square metres between 1962 and 1986 to 10,600 square metres between 1986 and this year.

"This is a wake-up call for China and the world," said Greenpeace's climate and energy campaigner Liu Junyan. "Glaciers in China supply water to 1.8 billion people, and they're melting, fast. In just the last few months, thousands of people have been evacuated from their homes due to threats of flooding."

Greenpeace has identified two major disasters caused by glacier melt this year, including the release of 25 million cubic metres of floodwater into the Yarkant river basin that forced the evacuation of residents in August.

Researchers with the China Academy of Sciences said in September that glaciers in the Qinghai-Tibet plateau had shrunk 15 percent as a result of rising temperatures over the last 50 years.

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Reuters, 20 Nov 2018: China glacier melt speeds up in 'wake-up call' for world - Greenpeace