LANZHOU, March 22 (Xinhua) -- China's glacier area has decreased by approximately 6 percent over the past decade, according to the latest Chinese glacier inventory released on Friday.

Glaciers are among the most sensitive and direct indicators of climate change, and glacier inventories are censuses of glacier resources. The Northwest Institute of Eco-Environment and Resources under the Chinese Academy of Sciences, a pioneer in domestic glacier research, completed the first and second Chinese glacier inventories in 2002 and 2014, respectively. In 2023, the institute carried out the third inventory, using 2020 as the baseline year to document current glacial conditions.

According to Kang Shichang, lead researcher of the project, China's glaciers covered about 46,000 square km, with some 69,000 individual glaciers. Compared to the results of the first inventory, from the 1960s to 2020, China's glacier area has shrunk by 26 percent, with nearly 7,000 small glaciers vanishing entirely.

Compared to the second inventory, from 2008 to 2020, the glacier area decreased by about 6 percent, indicating a rapid retreat.

Guo Wanqin, an associate researcher at the institute, noted that the researchers adopted higher-resolution satellite remote sensing data and more efficient methods to complete the third inventory within a short period.

The UN General Assembly declared 2025 the International Year of Glaciers' Preservation in December 2022, with March 21 designated as annual World Glacier Day starting from 2025. The aim is to underscore glaciers' crucial role in climate system and water resources, as well as the impacts of rapid glacier melting. Enditem

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