Glacier variations in the Tibetan Plateau and surrounding mountain ranges in China affect the livelihood of over one billion people who depend on water from the Yellow, Yangtze, Brahmaputra, Ganges and Indus rivers or...Glacier variations in the Tibetan Plateau and surrounding mountain ranges in China affect the livelihood of over one billion people who depend on water from the Yellow, Yangtze, Brahmaputra, Ganges and Indus rivers originating in these areas. Based on the results of the present study and published literature, we found that the glaciers shrank ：5.7% in area from 1963 to 20：0 with an annual area change of -0.33%. The shrinkage generally decreased from peripheral mountain ranges to the interior of Tibet. The linear trends of annual air temperature and precipitation at 147 stations were 0.36℃（10a）^-1 and 8.96 mm （10a）^-1 respectively from 1961 to 2010. The shrinkage of glaciers was well correlated with the rising temperature and the spatial patterns of the shrinkage were influenced by other factors superimposed on the rising temperature such as glacier size, type, elevation, debris cover and precipitation.展开更多
基金supported by the National Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 40871057 and 41271024)CAAS Project Innovation (2016-2020)+1 种基金IARRP (2016-637-1)Tianjin Philosophy and Social Science Planning Project (TJGL15-028)
文摘Glacier variations in the Tibetan Plateau and surrounding mountain ranges in China affect the livelihood of over one billion people who depend on water from the Yellow, Yangtze, Brahmaputra, Ganges and Indus rivers originating in these areas. Based on the results of the present study and published literature, we found that the glaciers shrank ：5.7% in area from 1963 to 20：0 with an annual area change of -0.33%. The shrinkage generally decreased from peripheral mountain ranges to the interior of Tibet. The linear trends of annual air temperature and precipitation at 147 stations were 0.36℃（10a）^-1 and 8.96 mm （10a）^-1 respectively from 1961 to 2010. The shrinkage of glaciers was well correlated with the rising temperature and the spatial patterns of the shrinkage were influenced by other factors superimposed on the rising temperature such as glacier size, type, elevation, debris cover and precipitation.
