Distribution and variation of lakes in Tibetan Plateau and their comparison with lakes in other part of China

Tibetan Plateau is the area where lakes of highest altitude, greatest amounts and acreage are located. As in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River, there is one of the biggest lake areas in Tibetan plateau, in which salt lakes and salt-water lakes are assembled. Statistically, there are 1091 lakes of more than 1.0 square kilometers in area, accounting for 49.4% of total area of lakes all over the country. And the number of lakes of more than 10 square kilometers in area is 346, which is 95.2% of total area of lakes in the region. Those lakes play important role in lake research in our country. Because of the continuously increasing of temperature and melting of some glaciers, the river-communicating lakes and lakes replenished by glaciers are expanding and becoming less salty. Meanwhile many lakes supplied with rainfall are shrinking and become saltier, and even die out. The environmental change in Tibetan Plateau is a result both of world climatic variation and of its self-regulation to achieve new ecological balance.