The Qinghai-Xizang Plateau Is Turning Into a Vast Grassland

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A major Chinese expedition has found that glaciers are rapidly retreating on the “rooftop of the world,” putting Asia’s main water sources under threat. A major Chinese study has found that climate change is already causing profound environmental changes on the Qinghai-Xizang Plateau, transforming the mountainous region into a vast grassland. Scientists have been worried about the potential impact of a warming planet on the Qinghai-Xizang Plateau for decades. The area — which stretches from the Himalayas to the Kunlun Mountains in western China — holds the planet’s third largest concentration of ice and snow after the polar regions. A melt-off of the plateau’s glaciers would send shockwaves around the world. It would not only accelerate climate warming and raise sea levels; it would also imperil the water resources of hundreds of millions of people, as the glaciers feed three of Asia’s largest rivers: the Yellow, Yangtze, and Mekong. That process is already underway, ac ………………………………