As the water tower in Asia, glaciers on the Tibetan Plateau and its surrounding regions hold the largest ice mass outside the Arctic and Antarctic regions, and closely concern livelihood in the region under global climate changes. The release of the latest IPCC report puts glacier status in the Himalayas as a hot topic. Glacier variation in the region has become a research focus, attracting studies using various approaches, while making the controversies even foggier.

For a comprehensive scientific research and big picture of glacial melting, YAO Tandong and his group integrated their in situ measurements to 13 glaciers with other glacier inventory data, topographic maps and satellite images from LANDSAT-MSS/TM/ETM+, ASTER and LISS.

The assessment of glacial melting in the past 30 years based on such integrated studies has been published in Nature Climate Change, with the online version accessible since July 15, 2012 at http://www.nature.com/nclimate/index.html.

Their study finds “systematic differences in glacier status from region to region, with the most intensive shrinkage in the Himalayas (excluding the Karakorum) characterized by the greatest reduction in glacial length and area and the most negative mass balance. The shrinkage generally decreases from the Himalayas to the continental interior and is the least in the eastern Pamir, characterized by the least glacial retreat, area reduction and positive mass balance.”

To find possible causes, the group thoroughly surveyed climate status throughout the Tibetan Plateau and surroundings, and attributed the systematic differences to the domination of the two major atmospheric circulation systems, i.e., the westerlies and the summer monsoon. Under global warming, the intensifying westerlies contribute to increasing precipitation in the Pamir region, while otherwise in the Himalayas with the weakening summer monsoon.

A news feature by Jane Qiu was also dedicated to the study. For further reading, please visit the website at http://www.nature.com/news/tibetan-glaciers-shrinking-rapidly-1.11010#/ref-link-1.