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Each year, enough water flows from the Tibetan plateau to fill the entire Yellow River, the mother river of Chinese civilization. Today in China alone, 300 million people depend on water from the Tibetan plateau. With its profound effect on Asia's weather and water systems, the Tibetan plateau helps to sustain almost half the world's population. For the moment, at least. Close to the summit of Mount Everest, a forest of ice once covered much of the area. But now, thanks to climate change, much of it has gone. Within the next 30 years it's predicted that 80% of the Tibetan glaciers could disappear. In many ways, Tibet's fragile environment is the barometer of our world. What happens to it today, in time, will affect us all.

每年充足的水从青藏高原流出，注入了黄河--中华文明的母亲河。现如今仅中国就有3亿人依靠，从青藏高原的流下的水生活。由于对亚洲气候和水资源体系的深远影响，青藏高原养活了差不多一半的世界人口。至少在现在就是这样。在接近珠穆朗玛峰峰顶的地方，冰层曾经覆盖过大部分的地域。 但是现在由于气候的变化。大部分冰层消失了。在接下来的30年里，预计西藏80%的冰川将会消失。从许多方面来说，西藏脆弱的环境是世界生态的晴雨表。它今天发生了什么，迟早会影响到所有人。