The "roof of the world" is getting warmer.
The average temperature in southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region was 5.9 degrees Celsius last year, 1.5 degrees Celsius higher than normal and a record high in almost four decades, according to latest figures released by the regional climate center.
The 2009 climate report, issued by the center Thursday, was based on meteorological data collected from 38 observatories across Tibet, said project leader Zhang Hezhen, a specialist with the regional weather bureau.
"Temperature changes were observed almost everywhere," said Zhang.
The average temperature across Tibet spanned from minus 1 to 13.6 degrees Celsius last year, 0.8 to 2.3 degrees higher than normal, she said. "Average temperatures recorded at 29 observatories reached record high."
Zhang said temperature rises occurred in both summer and winter.
"On the hottest summer days in regional capital Lhasa, the high temperature reached 30.4 degrees Celsius last year, compared with the record 29.9 degrees Celsius of 1971."
In Xigaze, the maximum daytime temperature hit 32.5 degrees Celsius, 0.5 degree higher than the previous record.
In Xigaze's Dingri County, where the base camp of Mount Qomolangma -- the world's highest peak -- is located, the maximum temperature was 25.8 degrees Celsius, 0.7 degree higher than the previous record.
Alongside temperature rises, Zhang and her colleagues have observed a drop of rainfall by at least 20 percent.
"Tibet received an average precipitation of 363 millimeters last year, a record low in 39 years," she said.
The worst drought in decades affected Lhasa and Xigaze, Shannan, Nyingchi and Qamdo prefectures last summer and forced residents to buy bottled water or carry water from miles away.
In consequence, Lhaze County of Xigaze suffered a locust plague after 23 hot, rainless days. The worst-hit areas had 500 locusts on each square meter of cropland.
The regional government said more than 740 hectares of cropland was plagued by pests last year, as a result of sustained drought.
Zhang Hezhen, who was born and brought up in Lhasa, said she had witnessed some of the climate changes.
"When I was a child, I saw twigs and branches bending under the weight of snow along Lhasa's streets every winter," she said. "Such scenes are rare in the recent 10 years."
"If you really miss the snow nowadays, you should take a train to Xinjiang," she added. In Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region of northwestern China, blizzard has taken tolls and evacuated more than 160,000 people this year.
The Tibet plateau, with an average altitude above 4,000 meters, is a "magnifier" of global warming as it is more sensitive to temperature changes, said China Meteorological Administration (CMA) chief Zheng Guoguang.
Since meteorological records began in Tibet in 1961, the mercury had climbed an average 0.32 degree Celsius every decade, much higher than the national average temperature rise of 0.05-0.08 degrees Celsius every 10 years, said Zheng.
Tibet's temperature rise had also topped the global average of 0.2 degrees Celsius per decade.
"Blockbuster disaster movies such as 'The Day after Tomorrow' and '2012' have sounded an alarm," said Zhang Hezhen. "It's high time for all of us to take global warming seriously and think what we can do to save the earth."
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