Glaciers in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, home to several Himalayan rivers including the Brahamaputra, have shrunk 15% due to global warming, Chinese researchers said.
Glaciers have shrunk from 53,000 to 45,000 sq km in the past 30 years, the scientists added.
The Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, the highest place in the world's mid-latitude regions, is more likely to get affected by global warming, they said.
Kang Shichang, a researcher with the Cold and Arid Regions Environmental and Engineering Research Institute of CAS, said glaciers started to shrink since the 20th century and speeded up since the 1990s.
Retreating glaciers can increase water flow of major rivers in the short term, he said.
A continuation of the retreat will eventually deplete the glacial ice and substantially reduce or eliminate runoff, he added.
China has more than 46,000 glaciers, mainly in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau.
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