China's glaciers, the major water source for millions of people, are disappearing fast

Yes, more bad news about glaciers melting around the world, and this time it is from the "Third Pole" as the Tibet (or Himalayan) Plateau is known.

Western China is experiencing glacial melt in the 7 to 18 percent range in the last five years. The area is part of the so-called Third Pole as it is an area that reflects the sun's heat, much like the North and South Polar regions. Of course, when the snow and ice melts, it exposes the darker Earth underneath, which then serves as a "heat sink", which in turn exacerbates the melting and thus exposes more earth and rock, and well, you see where this is heading. A little something called the "Albedo Effect."

The Third Pole may be even more crucial as it is on a part of the globe that receives much more sunlight than either the Arctic or Antarctic. We have been reading about the ever-quickening loss of ice at the Poles, but now a Chinese survey of the Western part of the country shows that things are much worse than previously thought.

The Chinese news source China View reported last week that preliminary findings from a new survey of Western Chinese glaciers are showing an average melt of around 7 percent since 2002, and some areas are showing alarming percentages of melting.

Glaciers in China's high-altitude western areas have shrunk seven to 18 percent over the past five years, according to a new survey by Chinese scientists.

A second research that started in May this year on the country's glaciers indicated an average shrinking of 7.4 percent compared with the results of the first survey completed in 2002.

A total area of nearly 20,000 square kilometers, or around one-third of the country's total, has been surveyed in the new project. -- China View

Some of the areas showing the higher percentage of melting just happen to be the glaciers that feed major river systems.

Glaciers in the Junggar Basin and Ili River areas in northern Xinjiang and the upper reaches of the Yarlung Zangbo River in Tibet had the most evident shrinkage of 18 percent or more, the survey showed.

In Qilian Mountain in the northwest and the Lancang River area in the southwest shank the glaciers shrank by about 10 percent on average. -- China View

So other than losing more of the "reflecting" area that these glaciers provide, there is also some concern about how the thinning glaciers will affect the water supply of rivers that feed off the glacial melt. Sure, those the rivers will gain some volume, which may seem like a good thing, but this gain will not last, such as when the glaciers are gone entirely. Also, as those rivers receive too much melt water, people down river will be severely impacted with flooding and soil erosion.

NPR did its own version of the story. Barry Baker of The Nature Conservancy is studying the area and explains that the river systems affected will impact many, many millions of people.

In Northwest Yunnan, we have the upper reaches of the Yangtze River, the Mekong River, the Salween and the Irrawaddy," Baker says. "These four rivers deliver water to 10 percent of the world's population. In those upper regions, they're mostly glacier-fed, and so melting of the glaciers will have a significant impact on water for a great many people. There'll be more water for a while, but no one's really sure what's going to happen after that. -- NPR's Morning Edition

You can read a full Q&A with Mr. Baker at the Nature Conservancy website's China Page. He further explains that due to the high altitude of the Tibet Plateau, the rock and soil that will be left after the glaciers melt will create a situation that will be like a "hot frying pan" in the atmosphere. Thus further increasing the temperature of the area.

As you can see it is a vicious cycle with dire consequences. So despite China's reluctance to sign anything to formally curb greenhouse gas emissions, the Chinese may not get away with not doing anything. Even one of the Chinese researchers points this out.

"The change of glaciers is in fact a manifestation of the pressure upon China's environment by global warming," said Ding Yongjian, a CAS [Chinese Academy of Sciences] research fellow. -- China View