RT null
T1 A Scientific Assessment of the Third Pole Environment - Executive Summary
K1 air pollutant
K1 biodiversity
K1 climate change
K1 climate zone
K1 ecosystem
K1 environmental impact assessment
K1 freshwater
K1 freshwater ecosystem
K1 global warming
K1 Polar region
K1 water resource
YR 2022
FD 2022-04
LK https://wedocs.unep.org/handle/20.500.11822/39758
UL https://wedocs.unep.org/handle/20.500.11822/39758
NO This document synthesizes interdisciplinary evidence on the Third Pole, the Asian “water tower” spanning the Tibetan Plateau and adjacent mountain systems, describing its climate, water, ecosystems, and human pressures. It reports rapid warming above the global average, shrinking glaciers, more cryosphere-related hazards, declining snow cover, and altered river discharge, alongside ecosystem shifts, permafrost change, and biodiversity at risk. Transboundary pollutants such as black carbon, heavy metals, and persistent organic pollutants reach the region via monsoon and westerlies, affecting health and accelerating melt. Projections indicate late century warming of about 1.4-5.6 °C, precipitation increases of 6-15%, major glacier mass loss, and runoff that peaks then declines in glacier-fed basins, with cascading ecological impacts.
DS UN Environment Document Repository
RD Sep 18, 2026