Reuters
The loss of glaciers in the Himalayas from global warming threatens hundreds of millions of farmers across southern Asia and China, Chinese climate scientists say.
Commenting on their contributions to an upcoming UN climate change report the scientists said the disappearance of glaciers would first swell major river systems in the region before leading to substantial reduction in water flow.
The Himalayas, surrounding highlands and the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau are home to a network of glaciers covering 500,000 square kilometres, major sources of water for the Ganges river in India, China’s Yangtze and the Mekong feeding Cambodia and Vietnam.
The repercussions could be enormous for the populations of the region with food production cut and farmers’ livelihoods ruined.
Wu Shaohong of the Chinese Academy of Sciences said these glaciers could recede to just 100,000 sq km by 2030 if global warming continues unchecked.
Chinese climate scientist Qin Dahe predicted, however, that about one-quarter of glaciers on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau could melt by 2050.
The Chinese government says lakes, wetlands and grasslands would retreat and more agricultural land would turn to desert.
The chairman of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), India’s Rajendra Pachauri, said glacier loss would threaten disaster for his country, northern India being “the granary of South Asia”.
Commenting on their contributions to an upcoming UN climate change report the scientists said the disappearance of glaciers would first swell major river systems in the region before leading to substantial reduction in water flow.
The Himalayas, surrounding highlands and the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau are home to a network of glaciers covering 500,000 square kilometres, major sources of water for the Ganges river in India, China’s Yangtze and the Mekong feeding Cambodia and Vietnam.
The repercussions could be enormous for the populations of the region with food production cut and farmers’ livelihoods ruined.
Wu Shaohong of the Chinese Academy of Sciences said these glaciers could recede to just 100,000 sq km by 2030 if global warming continues unchecked.
Chinese climate scientist Qin Dahe predicted, however, that about one-quarter of glaciers on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau could melt by 2050.
The Chinese government says lakes, wetlands and grasslands would retreat and more agricultural land would turn to desert.
The chairman of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), India’s Rajendra Pachauri, said glacier loss would threaten disaster for his country, northern India being “the granary of South Asia”.
