CHINA:Glaciers at the top of the world are melting faster than previously suspected, writes Clifford Coonanin Sichuan province
The clear, cool water of the Min river in the Jiuzhaigou National Park is the cleanest in China, filtered by 108 lakes as it makes its way down from the glaciers of this vast nature reserve before feeding into the Yangtze.
Back up through the mists, along a spectacular cliff-lined valley, one comes across Long Lake, a gorgeous blue glacial expanse of water, while higher up in this mountain park one finds corrie glaciers.
Waterfalls line the route, azure pools brim over with fresh water - it is difficult to believe there could be any danger to this idyll.
Yet even here, climate change is a threat. Normally a winter wonderland, there was no snow last year. The glaciers will get warmer and melt, the rivers
will have less water, although rainfall makes up much of the water flowing through the park.
The glaciers at the top of the world are melting faster than previously suspected and environmentalists fear climate change poses a serious threat to water supplies in China, India and southeast Asia.
The environmental group Greenpeace said recent expeditions to glaciers on Mount Everest and other parts
of the Himalayas showed a "dramatic" retreat on the rivers of ice, which are the source of many of Asia's largest waterways.
Greenpeace said its findings backed up reports by scientists from the top Chinese Academy of Sciences and the United Nations. Water shortages could affect millions of people who rely on the water from the glaciers to fill their local rivers.
The mighty Yangtze and Yellow rivers, as well as the Mekong and the Ganges, are in danger of running out of water, threatening the livelihood of millions in India, China, Pakistan and other parts of Asia.
With one eye on discussions about forging a landmark climate change pact at the forthcoming G8 in Berlin, Greenpeace says what is happening in the mountains of Tibet could choke off water sources vital for large parts of China, part of a chain-reaction of damage from global warming.
All across the Qinghai-Tibet highland that spans much of western China, global warming is speeding the retreat of glaciers, stoking evaporation of glacial and snow run-off, and leaving dwindling rivers dangerously clogged with silt, says Greenpeace in a report on climate change in this region.
Recent Chinese government research shows global warming is melting the plateau at seven per cent annually. Chinese scientists last year showed the Rongbuk glaciers have retreated by up to 230 metres (755ft) in the past 30 years.
These glaciers account for 47 per cent of the total glacier coverage in China.
"Climate change is the major factor leading to the overall ecological degradation in this region while localised human activities, like industry and agriculture, have aggravated the situation," said Li Yan of Greenpeace's Beijing office.
The Qinghai-Tibet plateau covers 2.5 million square kilometres - around a quarter of China's land surface - at an average altitude of 4,000 metres (13,123ft) above sea level. The world's highest ice fields are a natural biological museum for the array of geological phenomena they contain.
"The river itself is under threat from this deterioration in its birthplace," the report said of the Yellow River.
The environmental group cited one forecast that 80 per cent of the glacial area in Tibet and surrounding parts could disappear by 2035.
The fact that Chinese scientists are also coming up with these findings is significant, as it shows Beijing is aware of the dangers of climate change. China is expected to become the world's biggest CO2 emitter soon. Environmental issues are high on the agenda when talking to people on the street, particularly in Beijing where the air is so bad.
In a video shown by the Greenpeace team, a Tibetan monk who has lived on the lower slopes of Everest for many years, said: "Now the winter is as hot as summer. The weather change is obvious."