Glaciers are not only melting, but also collapsing in the Third Pole region.
In 2016, two glaciers in the western Third Pole's Aru Mountains collapsed, one after another. The first collapse caused nine human casualties and the loss of hundreds of livestock. However, that may not be the end of the catastrophe.
According to a study recently published in The Cryosphere, meltwater from ice avalanches has been filling downstream lakes in a way that may cause previously separated lakes to merge within the next decade, thus disrupting the function of ecosystems in the region.
"The collapse of Aru glaciers has both short-term and long-term impacts on downstream lakes," said Dr. LEI Yanbin, lead author of the study and a researcher at the Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research (ITP), Chinese Academy of Sciences.
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