Project Environmental Change

Retreating Glaciers in the Tanggula Mountains

Professor: Dr. Quinlan

Introduction:
The Tibetan plateau is located in central and east Asia, covering most of the country of Tibet.
The Tanggula mountains are located in the central and northeast region of the Tibetan plateau
near the Qinghai province, which is part of China. Due to the harsh conditions, the region is
sparsely populated but the mountains are incredibly important to the local Tibetan Buddhists as it
holds religious importance. The mountains and glaciers are also important because of the rivers
that come from them. The glaciers feed two of the largest rivers of Asia: the Yellow River and
the Yangtze River. The Tibetan Plateau, home to the Tanggula Mountains, is the second-largest
freshwater reserve after the polar regions. This freshwater is stored within many large glaciers,
but due to rising temperatures the glaciers are melting and increasing runoff. The 1st image
shows the mountains in October 1987 and the second image is the same mountains in October of
2021. Some of the change in the image is because of the snow cover, but the right side of the
image shows just how much the glaciers have retreated due to climate change. The Dorso Dong
Co lake had a different color in comparison to the Chibzhang Co lake due to it having more
suspended sediment, but when the water levels rose from the melting glaciers, a “thin strip of
land” that previously separated the two lakes was submerged, forcing the lakes to combine
(Voiland 2021). The runoff from the Tibetan plateau supplies water for “the largest rivers across
Southeast Asia, including the Yangtze, Yellow, Mekong, Ganges and Indus rivers.” The melting
of glaciers is a major threat to the water supply of billions of people (Qui, 2008). The goal of this
research is to examine how much the glaciers are melting and how they will affect the lives of
many people.

Methods:
To conduct this research, I used the ImageJ application to analyze aerial images of the Tanggula
mountains. One image was taken by the NASA Landsat satellite in 1987 while the other was taken in
2021 (Landsat 2021). They display the retreating glaciers. I used a threshold of 185-225 to highlight the
glaciers and snow in red and then measured how much the glaciers have reduced. (ImageJ 2021)
Results and Discussion:

Area of glaciers

October 1987 (fig 1) 110950.300 km^2

October 2021 (fig 2) 13505.593 km^2

Difference in area between two images 97444.707 km^2

The change in the size of the glaciers and lakes, which can be seen in the data and images, is vast. This
change is largely caused by climate change. The IPCC reports that “up to two-thirds of the region’s
remaining glaciers are on track to disappear by the end of the century” endangering the water supply of
many people (Vince 2019). The runoff from the Tibetan Plateau feeds crucial rivers in Asia and the
predicted melting of the glaciers will cause flooding. Although the glaciers themselves are sparsely
populated. The Buddhist locals believe the destruction of the glaciers can be attributed to pollution from
tourism and material greed. To combat this, they avoid eating onion and garlic and burning meat. Khawa
Karpo -the local’s name for the glaciers- serves great religious importance to the locals and as well as
their livelihood (Gaia 2019). Predicting ways to combat the melting of the glaciers is incredibly difficult
because field research on the glaciers is nearly impossible. Therefore, the best option is to use satellite
images like the ones I am using (Qui 2008). From these images we found that the glaciers are melting at
an alarming rate, causing the glacial lakes in the area to grow vastly, endangering the water supply of
billions. There is not much that can be done that will directly slow down the melt of the glaciers except
reducing greenhouse gas emissions to slow climate change. The slowing down of climate change to stop
the melting of the glaciers is a part of climate change action because the melting of the glaciers can only
speed up climate change. The glaciers are storage for methane, a greenhouse gas, and when the glaciers
melt, that methane gets released into the atmosphere. The reduced glaciers will reflect less light into
space, making the land absorb more heat. So to combat the melting of these glaciers, policymakers must
work together to collectively slow down climate change.
One major issue regarding policies facing the mountain region is the building of mega dams. China
invaded and took over Tibet in 1950-1951 and used it for mining, threatening the fragile ecological
balance, and building mega dams. Many parts of Asia get their water from rivers starting in the plateaus.
China is controlling Asia’s water supply by building mega dams and stopping the flow of water to
downstream countries like Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, and Vietnam causing droughts. The Tibet region is
also a major aspect of China and India's relations with China attempting to build dams on the
Brahmaputra river (Brahma 2020).
Contrastingly, China is working little by little to become more sustainable. In 2007, China released its
first Climate Change National Action Plan which promised to reduce CO2 emissions through a cut of
energy consumption by twenty percent per unit of GDP by 2010 which they achieved. More recently,
China lowered “carbon intensity” by 18.8% in the five years through 2020 (Reuters 2021).

Images:

1987 (Fig 1) 2021 (Fig 2)

(Landsat 2021)
References:
Voiland, Adam. “Shrinking Glaciers and Growing Lakes.” NASA Earth Observatory, NASA, 18 Oct.
2021, https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/images/148966/shrinking-glaciers-and-growing-lakes.

Qiu, Jane. “China: The Third Pole.” Nature, Nature Publishing Group, 1 July 2008,
https://www.nature.com/articles/454393a.

Landsat. “Shrinking Glaciers and Growing Lakes.” NASA, NASA, 18 Oct. 2021,
https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/images/148966/shrinking-glaciers-and-growing-lakes.

Mao, Dehua, et al. “Impacts of Climate Change on Tibetan Lakes: Patterns and Processes.” MDPI,
Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute, 26 Feb. 2018,
https://www.mdpi.com/2072-4292/10/3/358/htm.

Yao, Tandong, et al. “Δ18O Records from Tibetan Ice Cores Reveal Differences in Climatic Changes:
Annals of Glaciology.” Cambridge Core, Cambridge University Press, 14 Sept. 2017,
https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/annals-of-glaciology/article/18o-records-from-tibetan-ice-cores-
reveal-differences-in-climatic-changes/39076056663FC53969399D413D0950CA

Vince, Gaia. “The World Has a Third Pole – and It's Melting Quickly.” The Guardian, Guardian News and
Media, 15 Sept. 2019,
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/sep/15/tibetan-plateau-glacier-melt-ipcc-report-third-pol
e

Chellaney, Brahma. “China Leverages Tibetan Plateau's Water Wealth.” Georgetown Journal of
International Affairs, Georgetown Journal of International Affairs, 14 June 2020,
https://gjia.georgetown.edu/2020/06/16/china-leverages-tibetan-plateaus-water-wealth/.

Reuters. “China Cuts ‘Carbon Intensity’ 18.8% in Past Five Years, in Effort to Rein in Emissions.”
Reuters, Thomson Reuters, 2 Mar. 2021,
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-china-climatechange/china-cuts-carbon-intensity-18-8-in-past-five-yea
rs-in-effort-to-rein-in-emissions-idUSKBN2AU157.