China's Monsoonal Glaciers Receding At Alarming Rate

HAILOUGOU, CHINA - NOVEMBER 12: Bare rock is seen exposed on the Large Ice Fall of Glacier 1, at the base of the 7,556 m (24,790 ft) Mount Gongga, known in Tibetan as Minya Konka, on November 12, 2015 in Hailuogou, Garze Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Sichuan province, China. Hailuogou is one of China's 8,500 monsoonal glaciers and the longest of 71 glaciers on the eastern slope of Mt. Gongga. Monsoonal glaciers are found at lower altitudes and are at much higher risk to the effects of rising temperatures and climate change. Chinese scientists studying the impact on the Tibetan plateau warn the ablation rate of monsoonal glaciers is alarming. Data shows the Hailuogou basin glaciers have lost nearly 3 kilometers of mass since the 1960s and the rate is accelerating. Some researchers are concerned the glaciers could shrink at an accelerated rate beyond the present 20 meters a year and thin at a rate of more than 1 meter per year. At an upcoming conference in Paris, the governments of 196 countries will meet to set targets on reducing carbon emissions in an attempt to forge a new global agreement on climate change. (Photo by Kevin Frayer/Getty Images)