Third Pole Challenges

Natural disasters

Just as alarming are the increasing number and occurrences of natural disasters on the Tibetan Plateau as a result of global warming and increased human activity. The report said that disasters including landslides, torrential floods and avalanches are all expected to increase in the coming years, while fires will be more difficult to prevent and extinguish.

Data provided by the report showed that about 1,500 mountain torrents were reported on the plateau from 1950 to 2010, when strong and fast-moving water rushed down the slopes. The worst was in 1998 when more than 50 counties in Tibet Autonomous Region were affected.

Meanwhile, the report warned that frozen lakes and barrier lakes on the plateau are also posing a threat as more than 20 have overflowed during the course of the 20th century, leading to severe flooding in the region.

The report also recorded the fact that as one of the major forests in the nation, the risk of fire in this region is also high due to strong winds and a decrease in the total amount of rain and snow. From 1988 to 2014, a total of 373 forest fires were reported, according to the study. In addition, the scale of snow storms and avalanches has markedly expanded over the past 40 years under the influence of climate change and human activities.

A pure land

According to the ITPR report, airborne pollutants on the plateau have increased by 200 percent since the 1950s. However, both black carbon--a climate changing agent that heats the atmosphere and warms Earth--and persistent organic pollutants remain at a relatively low level, which is close to or lower than in the Arctic or the Alps, it notes. Though the level of heavy metal recorded in ice and lake cores of the plateau is higher than or similar to the South and North Pole regions, it is much lower than that in most areas.

Zhang Xianzhou, a researcher with the Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research under CAS, told reporters that the report shows the ecological environment of the Tibetan Plateau has been well preserved despite the onset of global warming and an increase of human activities in the region.

Xie Pengyun, Deputy Director of the ITPR, claimed that the sound ecological status quo of the Tibetan Plateau is inextricably linked to the efforts of the central and regional governments.

Based on data from reports of Xinhua News Agency, in order to protect the fragile environment on the Tibetan Plateau, the regional government of Tibet banned the mining of gold dust in 2006 and the exploitation of iron sand in 2008 as mineral resource exploration in Tibet had caused severe environmental damage. Fifty-six renovation projects had been carried out by 2010, in areas with a total size of 77.11 square km. Forty mining companies in Tibet that failed to meet environmental standards have been closed since 2010. Moreover, by 2010, areas with registered mining rights covered only 749.62 square km, less than 0.1 percent of the autonomous region's total area thanks to tightened controls.

Xu of the ITPR also noted that Tibet's energy consumption mainly relies on clean energy and it has a service-dominant industrial mix, which also means less pollution compared to densely populated areas.

Some experts said that despite a retreat of the permafrost and the partial desertification of the Tibetan Plateau, the ecosystem is improving overall with the vegetation coverage of the plateau increasing remarkably, the boundaries of frigid and sub-frigid zones moving westward and northward, and the temperate zone expanding.

On one hand, as the Tibetan Plateau becomes warmer and moister, it will also become more suitable for vegetation growth and human habitation and production, said Xu. The report also noted that the scope of arable land has been expanding since the mid-1970s on the plateau, which helps increase the income of farmers and herdsmen.

Nevertheless, the report called for more government efforts protecting the ecology of the plateau. It suggested that a model green zone be established in Changtang, a high altitude plateau in western and northern Tibet and also China's highest vulnerable environment, which will be a safe and clean habitat for wild animals such as Tibetan antelopes and yaks.

Copyedited by Mara Lee Durrell