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Swelling lakes pose threat to Tibet rails

Swelling lakes on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, a notable sign of global warming, are threatening the safety of the world’s highest railway, according to climate and ecological experts.

One flooded lake is now only 8 kilometers away from a section of the Qinghai-Tibet Railway in the depopulated area of Hol Xil Nature Reserve, according to the latest satellite monitoring by the Qinghai Provincial Academy of Meteorological Sciences.

Liu Baokang, engineer with the academy’s remote-sensing and ecological evaluation center, said several lakes in the nature reserve have been overflowing since 2011 after receiving an increasing volume of melted snow from glaciers on the plateau, known as the “roof of the world.”

Liu said the center’s research shows that the lakes have become a threat to the railway’s roadbed and roads on the Qinghai-Tibet Highway as well as important oil pipelines, cables and power facilities that run through the region.

Sitting 4,600 meters above sea level, the 45,000-square-kilometer Hol Xil nature reserve is China’s largest unpopulated area and is home to wild yaks and endangered Tibetan antelope.

Major lakes in the reserve, namely Zhuonai, Qusay and a salt lake, are all holding water at historically high levels.

Following a dyke breach in 2011, water has flowed from Zhuonai and fed into Qusay lake. The latter’s overflow has resulted in swelling of the salt lake downstream, which has more than tripled its 2011 size, endangering the rail line.

Wang Xinwen, a spokesman for the Qinghai-Tibet Railway Co, said the company has “prepared a comprehensive set of contingency plans to cope with an emergency.” But he declined to give details of measures to be taken if the rail track were to become submerged in lake water.

Wang affirmed that, so far, no harm to the railway’s foundation from the flooding lake has been monitored.

The railway is 1,956km long at an altitude of over 4,000 meters, connecting northwest China’s Qinghai Province and Lhasa, capital of the Tibet Autonomous Region.

“Rising temperatures have accelerated the melting of glaciers. Increased precipitation in the region has also contributed to the expanding lakes,” said Liu. He said lake flooding has also triggered changes in the landscape.

 




 

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