Temperatures in Central Asia's mountain region have risen a lot more than was thought, according to new research by Swiss and Russian scientists.
Ice-core samples analysed at the Swiss-based Paul Scherrer Institute (PSI) show that the temperature of the Belukha glacier has increased by 2.5 degrees Celsius in the past 150 years. That is three times the northern hemisphere average of 0.9 degrees ? an unforeseen result, according to expedition leader Margit Schwikowski, head of the PSI's analytical chemistry group.
"It's generally known that most of the glaciers are retreating so this is not a surprise. But to have such a high degree of warming
was quite surprising," Schwikowski told swissinfo.
The glacier is located in the Altai region, where Russia, China, Kazakhstan and Mongolia meet. According to Schwikowski, the surrounding landscape was virtually untouched until the 1940s.
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http://www.nzz.ch/2006/02/21/eng/article6488105.html
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