The ever-growing glacier retreat in Asia, including the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, may lead to a large number of climate refugees and affect the lives of over one billion residents in countries like China, Pakistan, India, Iran, and Kazakhstan some 50 years from now.

 A Chinese glaciologist Yao Tandong told the Global Times on the sidelines of the First General Assembly of the Alliance of International Science Organizations in the Belt and Road Region that by around 2060 to 2070, all the glaciers smaller than two square kilometers will vanish in the Pan-Third Pole, and large glaciers will be greatly reduced in size, which would result in less water production in the region.          

The glacier retreat is considered the biggest threat to the Asian Water Tower, and Yao's latest research showed that it is affected by climate change with more liquid than solid water, which could bring more natural disasters such as floods.

To slow down the retreat, China is cooperating with more than 30 countries and regions to study the Asian Water Tower, and the CAS has established overseas research centers in Myanmar, SriLanka, and Nepal, among others.