The Qinghai-Tibet Plateau occupies an enormous area of Asia and is known as the Roof of the World, owing to an average ...

The Tibetan Plateau, often referred to as the "Water Tower of Asia", is crucial to the hydrological cycle, feeding major Asian rivers such as the Yangtze, Yellow River, Indus, and Ganges.

Most of Asia's major rivers find their source on the Tibetan plateau. However as the global temperature rises, Tibet’s glaciers are melting and grassland permafrost is thawing at an alarming rate.