The Tibetan Plateau is often referred to as the 'third pole' owing to the amount of freshwater it contains. With over 46 000 glaciers, the Tibetan Plateau holds the largest reserve of freshwater outside of the North and South Poles.

These glaciers feed the rivers that run through the region, including the Mekong, Yangtze, and Yellow River, providing a vital source of water for millions of people in China and Southeast Asia.

The Tibetan Plateau's glaciers, along with other glaciers around the world, are under threat from climate change. Rising temperatures are causing the glaciers to melt at an unprecedented rate, which could have devastating consequences for the people and ecosystems that depend on them.

New findings have found that values of ice lost from Himalayan glaciers during 2000 to 2020 were, on average, underestimated by 6.5%. This discovery has critical implications for predicting the demise of the region’s glaciers and for managing critical water resources.

https://www.esa.int/Applications/Observing_the_Earth/10_remarkable_Earth_facts