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Chinanews, Lanzhou, July 28 – The Tianshan No.1 glacier1, the source of the Urumqi River, is shrinking at the speed of 3.5 m and 5.9 m every year on its east and west sides respectively. In the past 45 years, its coverage2 has dropped from 1.94 sq km to 1.68 sq km, a 13.8% loss.
In fact, the shrinking of the glacier is accelerating. Tianshan No.1 is located at a height of 3,454 m above sea level, and about 118 km from Urumqi, the capital of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous3 Region. It is considered as one of the most important dryland glacier models in Asia, and one of the most famous ten glaciers4 in the world. The glacier started shrinking in the 1950s. In 1993, the original Tianshan No.1 split into two. Besides, its thickness had also decreased by 12 m. That is to say, the total volume of Tianshan No.1 has dropped by 20 million cubic meters. The melting of glaciers will not only cause natural disasters like flood and landslide5, but will also lead to drought in the longrun, as rivers might lose their source.
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