Glaciers around the Qinghai-Tibet plateau are shrinking at an alarming rate.

Chinese and American scientists announced this on the basis of long term studies in the region, China Radio International reported Monday.

They point out that the glaciers have shrunk by an average of seven percent a year over the past 40 years.

Scientists warn that ever smaller glaciers will mean less and less water in the rivers they feed, seriously threatening the hundreds of millions of people who depend on them and accelerating the already very serious problem of desertification.

Glaciers all around the world, as well as the polar ice sheets, are shrinking faster and faster. The reason is generally agreed to be global warming.

Source: Xinhua