The average annual temperature in southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region is rising at a speed
of 0.3 C every 10 years, which is higher than the average growth
rate in the country and world, a latest research shows.
The report, Tibet's Climate under the Global Warming
Trend, carried out by the Tibet Meteorological Bureau, said
the increasing temperatures were most obvious in the western part
of the region.
Tibet, with its glaciers and high altitude, is considered to be
sensitive to the effects of global warming.
"The regional climate shows a warming trend under the global
warming background," said Zhang Hezhen, a senior engineer with the
bureau.
Last winter, average temperatures in different parts of Tibet
were 0.5-2.8 C higher than in normal years. The whole region's
average temperature was 1.6 C higher than last winter.
The region's average temperature in the winters of 2006 and 2001
was 3.0 and 1.7 C higher than normal years. Four of the five
warmest winters in the past 35 years in Tibet occurred after
2000.
(Xinhua News Agency July 23, 2007)