Drought and Desertification Worsening In Tibet

Drought and Desertification Worsening In Tibet

"Rising temperature and deforestation have intensified drought and desertification in Tibet, China's state media said.

Drought conditions have hit 33 counties in five of the six prefectures in Tibet, affecting 15.3 percent of the Tibetan plateau, Xinhua said, quoting the regional drought relief and flood control headquarters.

According to the report, the drought has also killed 13,601 head of cattle.
Nine meteorological centers in Tibet have not seen substantial rain for 226 consecutive days, Zhao Yiping, head of the Tibet Regional Meteorological Bureau said.

The drought has also been worsened by higher than normal temperatures. Tibet has experienced temperatures 0.4 to 2.3 celsius degrees higher than normal years, Zhao said.

The report by Xinhua news agency follows a warning by China's top weather official last month that Tibet faced a growing threat of drought and floods as global warming melts its glaciers.

The head of the China Meteorological Bureau, Zheng Guogang, last month was quoted by Xinhua as warning that global warming was accelerating glacial shrinkage, causing Tibet's lakes to swell.

"If the warming continues, millions of people in western China will face floods in the short term and drought in the long run."

Moreover, desertification is spreading by 39,600 hectares (98,000 acres) annually in Tibet, an official at the regional forestry bureau was quoted as saying by the Xinhua news agency."
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Reported by Chinese media. Yes China, but keep building those dams.

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China Wants 20 More Dams On The Headwaters of The Yangtze.

WHAT ARE THEY THINKING? Really. Glaciers are melting faster than predicted. Lakes are swelling which have already caused flooding in villages in the Himalayas. And once the glaciers are gone with temperatures rising and the water trickling to almost nothing, what good will those dams have done? Let the water flow naturally and use it's natural power to harness electricity. Use the power of the sun. Let the water flow to sustain the people and allow them to grow food. These dam and damn schemes are only for profit and control. In a time when drought is now a threat not only to agriculture and the climate but to life itself, it is irresponsible and immoral of the Chinese government to continue plans for all of these dams.