摘要
Mountains have been described as the water towers of the world. Almost all major rivers have their sources in mountains; glaciers are important water resources that contribute meltwater to river discharge. Glaciers participate in the global water cycle and, with their solid water storage, are an important component of the water balance. As solid reservoirs, glaciers continue to receive the mass nourishment of solid precipitation from the atmosphere, and their meltwater feed and regulate fiver discharge. Physical changes in glaciers are an indicator of climate change. Over the past half century, the global temperature has increased by 1-2 ℃, which emphasizes the urgent task of monitoring glaciers and predicting their trend. As an example, we have investigated, researched, and surveyed Glacier No. 1 in the Urumqi River source, Tianshan (abbr. Glacier No. 1 Tianshan or Glacier No.l) for half a century. We have found an increase by degrees of the glacial regression during the last 400 years and discovered a terminal moraine which is forming today. The global temperature is rising continually, while the local glacial temperature is 0.4 times that of the global temperature change. Thus, we forecast that Glacier No. 1 Tianshan will disappear during the late 21 st Century (2074-2100 A.D.).
Mountains have been described as the water towers of the world. Almost all major rivers have their sources in mountains; glaciers are important water resources that contribute meltwater to river discharge. Glaciers participate in the global water cycle and, with their solid water storage, are an important component of the water balance. As solid reservoirs, glaciers continue to receive the mass nourishment of solid precipitation from the atmosphere, and their meltwater feed and regulate fiver discharge. Physical changes in glaciers are an indicator of climate change. Over the past half century, the global temperature has increased by 1-2 ℃, which emphasizes the urgent task of monitoring glaciers and predicting their trend. As an example, we have investigated, researched, and surveyed Glacier No. 1 in the Urumqi River source, Tianshan (abbr. Glacier No. 1 Tianshan or Glacier No.l) for half a century. We have found an increase by degrees of the glacial regression during the last 400 years and discovered a terminal moraine which is forming today. The global temperature is rising continually, while the local glacial temperature is 0.4 times that of the global temperature change. Thus, we forecast that Glacier No. 1 Tianshan will disappear during the late 21 st Century (2074-2100 A.D.).
基金
supported by The State Key Science Research Programme for Global Change Research of China (Grant No.2010CB951402)
State Key Laboratory of Cryospheric Sciences Fund (SKLCS 2010-04)
the State Key Basic Research Development Program of China (973 Program)(Grant No.2007 CB411507)
the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 40771047)