A major Chinese study has found that climate change is already causing profound environmental changes on the Qinghai-Xizang Plateau, transforming the mountainous region into a vast grassland.

Scientists have been worried about the potential impact of a warming planet on the Qinghai-Xizang Plateau for decades. The area — which stretches from the Himalayas to the Kunlun Mountains in western China — holds the planet’s third largest concentration of ice and snow after the polar regions.

A melt-off of the plateau’s glaciers would send shockwaves around the world. It would not only accelerate climate warming and raise sea levels; it would also imperil the water resources of hundreds of millions of people, as the glaciers feed three of Asia’s largest rivers: the Yellow, Yangtze, and Mekong.

That process is already underway, according to China’s latest survey of the plateau. The study — which was launched in 2017 — is the largest survey of the region since the 1970s, with over 28,000 scientists undertaking 2,600 trips to the area.

Yao Tandong, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the leader of the project, told reporters at a press conference on Aug. 18 that the plateau is undergoing significant changes that will disrupt ecosystems and water resources across Asia.

“As global warming leads to glacier melt, ‘Asia’s water tower’ is becoming warmer and wetter, causing imbalances,” added Wu Guangjian, a researcher at the Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences. “On the Tibetan Plateau, some small glaciers at lower altitudes are disappearing, a trend consistent with what is happening in other parts of the world, such as Europe.”

According to the study, the plateau has become far greener over the past 15 years, as glaciers and permafrost are replaced by grassland. The proportion of the region covered by “high-quality grassland” and forest has increased by 6% and 12%, respectively.

The expansion of green space has had some useful environmental effects, the study found. The plateau now absorbs more carbon dioxide than before, with researchers calculating that it now removes up to 140 million tons of carbon annually.

The region’s biodiversity has also grown. Scientists found that a number of plants thought to be extinct had re-emerged on the plateau, and rare animals including snow leopards and Bengal tigers appear to be making a comeback. In total, the study discovered 3,000 new species, including 205 new animals and 388 new plants.

However, the changes have sobering implications for humanity’s future. The ice and snow on the surface of the plateau currently store over 10 trillion cubic meters of water, which is equivalent to around 200 times the amount of water that flows along the Yellow River every year.

With scientific models predicting that parts of the plateau will lose more than half their glacier mass by the end of the century, scientists leading the study said that there is an urgent need for a coordinated international response to the growing imbalances in Asia’s water resources.

“Our scientists have found that the Tibetan Plateau will continue to become greener and warmer,” said Yao. “It’s a fundamental trend.”

The reduction of glacier and snow coverage, meanwhile, means that the plateau is reflecting less sunlight back into space. This could lead to significant changes in the global climate system, affecting the Asian monsoon cycle and potentially leading to more extreme weather events in China, the study found.

The study also produced several additional findings. These included the discovery of a set of hand and footprints on a rock face near Lhasa dating back to around 200,000 years ago, which some have described as the world’s oldest known artwork.

Researchers involved in the study created the first ever database of natural disasters in the region, which could help predict future disasters. They also set up a disaster monitoring system along major transportation routes on the plateau.

(Header image: A view of Tanggula Mountains on Qinghai-Xizang Plateau, Xizang Autonomous Region, May 28, 2023. VCG)