(TibetanReview.net, Dec23’20) – The Tibetan Plateau has water reserves that total more than 9 trillion cubic meters, reported China’s official Xinhua news agency Dec 22, citing the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS).
It noted that the “Asia’s water tower”, constituted by the plateau and its surrounding mountains, were the birthplace of more than 10 major rivers in Asia.
The area’s water reserves were stated to be mainly composed of glaciers, snow, frozen soil, lakes and rivers.
Of them, the ice reserves amounted to about 8,850 cubic kilometers, equivalent to about 8 trillion cubic meters of water, the Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research under the CAS was cited as saying.
Apart from that, the major lakes in the area held about 815 billion cubic meters of water, while the rivers held 656 billion cubic meters, initial estimates of a scientific research team were cited as saying.
The research was stated to be part of China’s second comprehensive scientific expedition to the Tibetan Plateau.
