Tibet Autonomous Region Meteorological Bureau released the 2015 autumn (September to November) weather analysis on the 23rd. The results showed that the highest temperature in Lhasa for September has surpassed historical records. Since 1981 the average autumn temperature in Tibet has increased by 0.37 degrees Celsius every ten years.

In the past 100 years there has been an increase in the global average surface temperature. From 1961 to 2014 the average temperature in China has increased 0.28 degrees Celsius every ten years, with winter and spring showing a marked increase.

Du Jun, Director of Tibet Autonomous Region Climate Center, said that the Tibetan plateau is a fragile area sensitive to climate change and is a classic example of an area susceptible to global warming. Therefore, there is a more significant warming effect in Tibet than in other regions.

An expert once said that global warming could partially improve the low temperatures and drought conditions on the Tibetan plateau without affecting the overall ecological environment.

The latest report from the Tibet Autonomous Region Climate Center shows that, in autumn 2015, most parts of Tibet have seen higher temperatures. The average temperature was 6.4 degrees Celsius, which is 1.2 degrees higher than the average temperature from 1981 to 2010. Among these places, Lhasa, Qamdo, Ngari, Nagqu and others have seen an increase in temperature of one or more degrees. In November this year Shiquan River in Ngari and Qamdo in Lhorong County saw their highest average monthly temperature on record.

Currently, winter solstice has passed and the sunny skies of Lhasa are the envy of some cities on the mainland covered in fog and haze. Lhasa has a reputation as the “City of Sunlight” and on average has up to 2996 hours of sunshine annually. Promotion of winter tourism in Tibet led to a surge of mainland tourists going to Lhasa to enjoy the winter sun.

Du Jun said that, in the last 50 years, observations at the 18 weather stations in Tibet have shown the following inter-annual variation in annual sunshine hours: increase, decrease and then increase again. In the last 30 years reduced hours of sunshine have taken place mainly in summer and autumn, but winter has remained unchanged.