24 July 2007
Tibet warming at twice global average
(New Scientist) The Tibetan plateau is heating up by 0.3°C each decade, more than twice the worldwide average, according to a new study from the Tibet Meteorological Bureau. The findings, reported by Xinhua, underscore a growing understanding that high elevations in tropical regions are experiencing dramatic temperature increases similar to those seen at the North and South Poles. "Whether you are in the Himalayas, the Andes, or Africa, the temperature is rising highest at the highest elevations", says Lonnie Thompson, a glaciologist at Ohio State University. "They are seeing an acceleration in temperature rise that is very consistent with the high-elevation glacial retreat we are seeing". In the tropics, when the already warm tropical waters heat up further, due to global warming, they evaporate even more moisture, which rises straight to the upper atmosphere. "That is latent heat that is rising from the sea and released back to the atmosphere in the mid to upper troposphere", says Thompson. "And that's where the Tibetan plateau weather stations are located". Previous studies have found that all glaciers in the central and eastern Himalayas could disappear by 2035 at their present rate of decline. The melting glaciers threaten to unleash massive flooding followed by severe droughts across South Asia.