Global warming has reached the snow-capped Himalayas in southwest China's Tibet, with rising temperatures and more extreme weather, according to a report on climate change and environmental monitoring in Tibet published by the Tibet Climate Center.
The report is based on an analysis of climate data collected between 1961 and 2013, and shows that the average temperature in the autonomous region has been rising by 0.31 degrees Celsius every decade.
Tibet is the highest region in the mid-latitude regions, and seen as a barometer of global warming.
Du Jun, deputy director of the center, said that rising temperatures have been accompanied by an increase in precipitation, up by 6.6 millimeters every 10 years for the past five decades.
There is also a trend of more severe extreme weather. Both the record low temperature of minus 36.7 degrees Celsius and the record high temperature of 32.3 degrees Celsius were logged last year.
Du said that with the current pace of global warming, average temperatures in Tibet would rise by 1.96 degrees Celsius from 2011 to 2100, which would be mainly through a rise in winter temperatures.
Warmer temperatures and increased precipitation were likely to add greenery to the plateau region.
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