Climate change a growing threat in Tibet, media report

BEIJING (AFP) – Climate change is causing more weather-related disasters than ever in the Himalayan region of Tibet, where the temperature is rising faster than the rest of China, state press reported Wednesday.

“Natural disasters, like droughts, landslides, snowstorms and fires are more frequent and calamitous now,” Xinhua news agency quoted the director of the Tibet Regional Meteorological Bureau, Song Shanyun, as saying.


“The tolls are more severe and losses are bigger.”

The temperature in Tibet has been rising by 0.3 degrees Celsius (0.54 degrees Fahrenheit) every decade, about 10 times faster than the national average, with visible consequences, a bureau study found.

“Problems like receding snow lines, shrinking glaciers, drying grasslands and desert expansion are increasingly threatening the natural eco-system in the region,” Song said.

AFP