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Abstract
The Lancang River Basin (LRB) crosses from the higher inland Tibet Plateau to lower south Asia. Glaciers in upper reaches of the basin are significant reservoirs of freshwater and are considered to contribute substantially to the runoff of the Lancang River. In this study, we present the results of glacier inventories of the LRB and demonstrate its changes during the past 40 years, based on investigations conducted during two periods: the first (1968–1975) and the second (2005–2010) glacier inventory of China. Total area of the 423 measured glaciers in the LRB decreased by 98.50 ± 26.61 km2 from 328.16 ± 20.29 km2 in 1968–1975 to 229.66 ± 16.48 km2 in 2005–2010, indicating a loss in total glacier area of about 30% ± 8% during the past 40 years (at a mean area loss rate of 0.75% ± 0.2% a-1), which is comparable to glacier changes in other regions of high Asia. Southern glaciers in the LRB have experienced greater area loss than the northern inland Tibet regions, indicating more sensitivity of temperate glaciers to climate warming. The general warming trend but with less significant precipitation changes during the past 50 years (1960–2010), which has been confirmed by the observation of several meteorological stations across from the south to the north of the basin, could be one of the main causes accounting for the overall glacier recessions in the LRB.
Acknowledgments
The authors are very grateful to two anonymous reviewers for their comments to improve the manuscript, and Ludwig Braun and Susan Braun-Clarke for their help in polishing the language. This work was funded by a program supported by the Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST) of China (grants 2012BAC19B07 and 2013BAC10B01) and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (grant 41371094). The data sets used in the study were a result of an immediate past project from the MOST (grant 2006FY110200). Satellite images were from the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS).
