Tibetans Carry On As Glaciers Fall Victim To Global Warming
Pastor Dale Morgan
Tibetans Carry On As Glaciers Fall Victim To Global Warming
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An official at the meteorological bureau, Song Yanling, said the
temperature in the western part of the Tibetan plateau throughout this
winter was between two and four degrees Celsius (35.6-39.2 degrees
Fahrenheit) higher than average.
by Philippe Massonnet
Nojin Kangtsang Glacier, China (AFP) March 08, 2007
Although the melting of Tibet's massive glaciers threatens to have dire
global repercussions, climate change remains a vague concept for the
people of this Himalayan region. Experts say that if global warming
trends continue, up to a third of the world's highest glaciers could
melt away by 2050 and half will disappear by 2090.
Even at some of its coldest points, such as around the Nojin Kangtsang
glacier between the regional capital of Lhasa and Mount Everest,
evidence exists that change has already come to this part of the world.
The waters of Yamdrok-So lake are a deep turquoise -- a colour that
appears only as the winter ice melts. This year the change has come
early because of the warmer temperatures of January and February.
Only a sprinkling of snow and ice clings to the sides of the surrounding
mountains at a time when it should be laying thick on the ground.
"Under the influence of global warming, the climate on the Tibetan
Plateau has seen significant changes over the last three years," Xu
Liangyan, an engineer at the China Meteorological Bureau, told AFP.
The bureau recently reported that last year was the warmest in China
since 1951, with more than a third of the climate observation stations
on the Tibetan plateau -- which is more than 4,000 metres (13,200 feet)
above sea level -- registering record high temperatures.
"It is obvious that the glacial melt is accelerating and the snow line
has been retreating," said Kang Shichang, an expert at the Institute of
Tibetan Plateau Research at the Chinese Academy of Sciences.
"Apart from that, wetlands are shrinking and water storage tables are
falling."
Another official at the meteorological bureau, Song Yanling, said the
temperature in the western part of the Tibetan plateau throughout this
winter was between two and four degrees Celsius (35.6-39.2 degrees
Fahrenheit) higher than average.
The forecasts are of great concern to the world as Tibet is the source
of most of Asia's greatest rivers, including the Ganges, Brahmaputra,
Indus, Yangtze, Yellow and Mekong.
Up to three billion people who live along or near these rivers could
eventually be threatened directly or indirectly by water shortages.
The United Nations Development Programme said that in China alone 300
million farmers in the country's western regions would likely suffer
water shortages from lower volumes coming down from the reduced glaciers.
Nevertheless, for people such as Quesan, a farmer and head of Hamu
village on the banks of the Yamdrok-So, the burdens of daily life and
immediate weather conditions are of most importance.
"The end of 2006 was difficult and we had a lot of snow," he said.
"The people here work on small pieces of land and are raising only a few
head of livestock."
When asked about the impact of humans on the environment, Quesan
referred to the traditional lifestyle of his people rather than the
energy-intensive lives of the world outside Tibet of which he and most
Tibetans are largely ignorant.
"No one is destroying anything," he said.
A few hundred metres (yards) away, a shepherd had his own view of the
dire predictions of meteorologists.
"There was a lot of snow here just several weeks ago and you could walk
across the lake," said Tunju, who watches over about 100 sheep for Hamu
village and earns seven yuan (90 US cents) a day.
Deji Cuonu, who lives at the foot of the Nojin Kangtsang glacier, which
reaches a height of 7,191 metres (23,592 feet), had also noticed little
change, an indication of the incremental, though potentially
devastating, impact of global warming on the roof of the world.
"I have noticed that we have had a lot of snow recently," said the young
woman, who raises yaks and sells tourist books as part of a small
collective in the Karo-La pass.
Source: Agence France-Presse