Melting glaciers flood the Silk Road
The Silk Road, an ancient trade route dating to the second century BC that used to deliver silk, gold, ivory and exotic animals to the world, is being flooded by melting glaciers, according to the New Scientist. The culprit? You guessed it. Climate change.
Temperatures in the Qilian mountains, which tower above the Silk Road, are rising by 0.04C a year, the article notes, and some glaciers are retreating by as much as seven metres a single year.
As the glaciers melt, the water they contain seeps into the water table and bubbles up at springs, flooding cities and forcing as many as 1000 families to evacuate.
Given that the region is notoriously arid (it receives little more than 125 mm of rainfall a year) surely the floods are a blessing?
Not really, says the article: at some point in the future (perhaps as soon as 2050), the glaciers will 'dry up completely', leaving 26 million people rather thirsty.
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