Warming of the Tibet Plateau

Chinese scientists of the Academy of Meteorological Sciences, are sounding the alarm over the rising temperatures on the Qinghai-Tibet plateau. Over the last 30-years, as temperatures have risen at a steady clip of 0.42 degrees Celsius every year, the plateau has been losing an average of 131.4 square kilometres annually. The loss of more of the glaciers is causing temperatures to soar to record highs in China, resulting in thousands of deaths, droughts, floods and major economic losses. The plateau glaciers are also the mountainous source for some of the mighty rivers of China -- the Yellow, Yangtze, the Indus and other rivers -- which provide water to hundreds of millions of Chinese. As the glaciers disappear, scientists are warning that these rivers, some of the longest in the world, may also dry up, and are predicting major disasters by the end of this century.

That's global warming for you. Will the Chinese react to this warning with good sense? I'm holding out hope that with their economy on a blitz, they won't be blinded by short term thinking and risk it all.