By Tenzin Monlam
DHARAMSHALA, November 20: The Chinese Academy of Science (CAS) in their environment change evaluation report claimed that the Tibetan plateau is one of the world’s cleanest regions despite reports of excessive mining, deforestation and nuclear waste dumping.
The report, which also includes research from scientists from across the globe, showed that pollutant levels recorded on the plateau are similar to the findings on the Arctic region.
This report comes ahead of the global climate conference COP21 in Paris later this month and in wake of the European Parliamentarians calling for a strong global action against the exploitations and expressing their concerns about the extensive effects of climate change on the Tibetan plateau.
Despite assuring ‘the Tibetan plateau’s ecosystem is improving overall’, the report stated the average annual temperature of the plateau rose by 0.3-0.4 degrees Celsius every decade from 1960 to 2012, which is about twice the world average. It has resulted in retreating glaciers and disappearing permafrost.
Stating that the glacier shrinkage is not unique to the Tibetan plateau, Xu Baiqing, a researcher at CAS said, “It is a common crisis all plateaus are facing, thanks to global warming, glaciers are melting even faster in the Alps, Andes and Kilimanjaro.”
Tibetan plateau with 46,000 glaciers is the primary sources of major rivers in Asia, which caters fresh waters to over 2 billion people. The report also warned that if the global temperature rises continuously for the next hundred years, a worst case scenario predicted by some scientist, 81 percent of the permafrost on the plateau will disappear by 2100.
The Central Tibetan Administration has made it their agenda this year to make the world aware of the importance of the Tibetan plateau. The Prime Minister (Sikyong) Lobsang Sangay said on November 12, “Tibet’s glaciers are melting, and the world needs to notice. Its permafrost is degrading, and the world needs to care. Tibet is suffering from massive deforestation and damming projects, and the world needs to act.”
