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Asia’s ‘water tower’ is in trouble, and Chinese scientists are sounding the alarm

  • Accelerated glacier melt on the Tibetan Plateau is threatening water quality for 2 billion people, Chinese researchers say
  • Scientists call for urgent joint research to determine impact on water quality from warmer temperatures

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Climate change is transforming the “Asian water tower” into rivers of toxic mud. Photo: Shutterstock
Echo Xie

Global warming is slowly turning one of the world’s most important sources of fresh water into toxic mud, but scientists say they do not yet know how bad the problem is.

The Tibetan Plateau and its surrounding mountain regions, known in environmental circles as the “Asian water tower”, is the source of Asia’s 10 major rivers, delivering water to almost 2 billion people – about a quarter of the world’s population.
But Chinese researchers have called for urgent action to improve the water quality in both the upstream and downstream areas of the region, which they believe will rapidly deteriorate as global temperatures rise.

In an article published in the journal Nature Reviews Earth & Environment on October 11, researchers from the Chinese Academy of Sciences said climate change would accelerate glacier melt, increasing upstream flows of sediments and other contaminants that will compromise water quality downstream.

They suggest better monitoring of the problem by creating a research network based on water quality data, as well as joint actions by upstream and downstream countries to mitigate the issue.

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The Asian water tower is home to most glaciers outside the Arctic and Antarctica and is highly sensitive to climate change.

From 1979 to 2020, the average temperature in the region increased by 0.44 degrees Celsius per decade – twice the global average rate, according to a study published in the journal in June.

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