'Impossible To Save': Scientists Are Watching China's Glaciers Disappear
Xinjiang has nearly 20,000 glaciers, half of China's total. They're all receding at a record pace — and will continue to melt, some scientists warn, even if global temperatures stop rising.
At the end of every summer, scientist Li Zhongqin takes his seasonal hike near the top of a glacier in the Tianshan mountains in China's far northwestern region of Xinjiang.
Li scrambles over a frozen ridge and heads toward a lone red pole wedged in the ice. Clouds emerge from a peak above and quickly blow past. He stops to catch his breath. He's at 14,000 ft. The snow is thick. The air is thin.
"This is called a sight rod," he says, grasping the pole. "We come up here each month to check it, to see how fast the
