Under global warming, environmental change on the Tibetan Plateau is becoming more obvious and worth noticing. Reported the Xinhua news agency.

According to Prof. Yao Tandong, Director of ITP, Tibetan glaciers are undergoing severe retreat and thinning, though the retreating scale varies with places. Recent studies show that if the trend of warming maintains the current momentum, the marine-type glacier on the Tibetan Plateau would be reduced by about 43% by 2070, and by 75% by 2100! Following large scale glacial melting, the radiation rate of the ground changes, greatly influencing regional climate process and atmospheric circulation.  

Scientists also found that permafrost on the Plateau accounted for 2/3 of the total land surface; thus its melting would lead to instability of the ground in the frost region, causing unfavorable consequences to road building and constructions there. Meanwhile, large amount of carbon dioxide released from melting would intensify the greenhouse effect. The thickening of the active layers in the frost has already played a negative role in the local environment and ecology on the Plateau.

The warming could bring about lake retreat, following which the dramatic reducing of wetland area on the plateau would directly weaken its role in adjusting the ecology there to the environment. Introduced Prof. Chen Guichen.