The Third Pole's warning
High on the Tibetan Plateau, in a region known as the "Third Pole" for holding the largest store of frozen water outside the Arctic and Antarctic, the Mekong River begins its nearly 5,000-kilometer path. The source, a network of streams in Qinghai province fed by ancient glaciers, is the center of a dramatic and counterintuitive environmental shift. The entire plateau is warming at a rate of approximately 0.4 degrees Celsius per decade, more than double the global average. This accelerated warming is causing the glaciers to melt at an unprecedented rate.
This rapid melting has created a phenomenon known as "peak water." Instead of diminishing, the Mekong's flow has actually increased in the short term due to the massive volume of meltwater being discharged. The glaciers and seasonal snowmelt in the headwaters contribute to the river's overall volume, especially during the dry season. From 1982 to 2011, snow and glacier melt accounted for an average of 17.6% of the river's annual discharge in its upper reaches. The current surge is a temporary bounty; once the glaciers shrink beyond a critical point, the meltwater contribution will plummet, leading to a drastic reduction in the river's flow. Chinese scientists warn that by 2100, the loss of glacial mass in some parts of the Tibetan Plateau could exceed 50%.