Shrinkage fears for Mt. Qomolangma
(Shenzhen Daily)
Updated: 2005-01-26 11:32

China plans to send a scientific team to Mt. Qomolangma this year to measure the height of its peak and track the impact of global warming.

CCTV reports that the team, jointly organized by the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the State Bureau of Survey and Mapping, will work on the world's highest mountain from March 20 to June 20.

It will be China's fourth such expedition following others in 1959, 1966 and 1975.

This time, the scientists will focus on the damage caused by global warming over the past 30 years.

The network reports that Mt. Qomolangma, also known as Mount Everest, which straddles the border of Nepal and Southwest China's Tibet, is believed to have shrunk by as much as 1.3 meters due to global warming and the melting of glaciers.

The mountain's official height is currently 8,848 meters.

Chinese media last year reported that a staggering 7 percent of the country's glaciers were vanishing annually under the sweltering sun, including those covering Mt. Qomolangma.

Leading glacier expert Yan Tandong said that as much as 64 percent of China's glaciers may be gone by 2050 if current trends continue.

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