{"id":3586,"date":"2022-08-19T06:28:22","date_gmt":"2022-08-19T06:28:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thepoetryofscience.peachpuff-wolverine-566518.hostingersite.com\/?p=3586"},"modified":"2022-08-19T06:28:22","modified_gmt":"2022-08-19T06:28:22","slug":"draining-the-water-tower","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/thepoetryofscience\/3586\/draining-the-water-tower\/","title":{"rendered":"Draining the Water Tower"},"content":{"rendered":"

You stand as the roof
\nof the world,
\ngranting flowing gifts
\nof streams,
\nand lakes,
\nand life.
\nHemmed in by rugged paths
\nyour body creaks
\nwith ridges,
\ncrests,
\nand faults \u2013
\nbeneath each fold a
\nprecious line to
\nparched and weary
\nthrongs below.
\nTheir muted songs of praise
\nsmothered in the smoke
\nthat dries your skin and
\ncracks your kindness,
\nuntil the day
\nthere are no gifts
\nto give.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
The southern-central edge of the Tibetan Plateau near the border with western Nepal and the Indian state of Sikkim (Image Credit: European Space Agency, via Wikimedia Commons).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

This poem is inspired by recent research<\/a>, which has found that The Tibetan Plateau will experience significant water loss this century due to global warming.<\/p>\n

The reservoirs of the Tibetan Plateau, which covers much of southern China and northern India, are known as the \u2018water tower\u2019 of Asia. Fed by monsoons, they currently supply freshwater for nearly two billion people who live downstream, providing irrigation, drinking water, and hydropower. However, despite its importance the plateau’s complex terrain has meant that the impacts of climate change on past and future terrestrial water storage (which includes all the above- and below-ground water) in the region have largely been underexplored.<\/p>\n

In this new study, researchers used satellite and ground-based measurements of water mass in glaciers, lakes, and below-ground sources, combined with modelling using machine learning techniques to provide a benchmark of observed changes in terrestrial water storage over the past two decades (2002\u20122020). They then then used this to project what will happen in the next four decades (2021\u20132060), based on a range of future climate change scenarios. The study found that climate change since the start of this century has already led to severe water depletion in certain areas of the Tibetan Plateau, likely due to the competing effects of glacier retreat and the degradation of seasonally frozen ground. In a \u2018business as usual\u2019 scenario (i.e., one in which we fail to significantly reduce fossil fuel burning) there will be nearly a 100% loss of water availability to downstream regions of the Tibetan Plateau by the middle of this century. As such this research highlights that substantial adaptation to decreasing water resources will be required in this vulnerable and highly populated region of the world.<\/p>\n