Translated from www.people.com

Setting off from the town of Caca on the noon of 17^th, the scientific investigation group headed west for the hinterland in the west Tibet, where “the west Tibet corridor” is. The investigation names it for it is located right in the west Tibet between two tall mountains.

We spent three days in this region, filling with delight to find various types of large glaciers and even an icy waterfall, as well as the worry about the vulnerable ecology there and the all-around shrink of the glaciers on the Tibetan Plateau.

There has already been scientific speculation that the glaciers are shrinking from their original scales. Our trip this time has confirmed such a deduction. Besides the grey mountain tops and a limited amount of cattle, the scientists were also sad to see the large-scale shrink of glaciers there. Prof. Yao Tandong said that though in the short run, the melting of the glaciers may bring about increase of runoff in the vast Western China, it would eventually break the ecological balance, leading to unpredictable disaster to us. He predicted that if global warming proceeded at the present speed, most glaciers would disappear by 2100 and the lower reaches of the glacial runoff would also dry out.