Glaciers Thawing Fast in Threat to Hydro Power, Farms
Mountain glaciers in Central Asia have shrunk four times faster than the world average, threatening river flows vital for agriculture and hydro power from Uzbekistan to western China, scientists said on Monday. Global warming is likely to quicken the thaw in the vast Tien Shan range in coming years, melting half the remaining ice by the 2050s, according to the study led by the GFZ German Research Centre for Geosciences. A local rise in temperatures, perhaps linked to climate change in the north Pacific and north Atlantic oceans, means ever more precipitation is falling as rain in summertime on the Tien Shan, eroding glacier ice, the study found.