Yesterday, Greenpeace called for international cooperation to rescue the seriously deteriorated source of the Yellow River by pursuing renewable energy sources.

The organization commissioned a study on the influence of climatic change on the river source's environment by the Cold and Arid Regions Environmental and Engineering Research Institute of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), conducted from June to September, which was released the same day.

The report said that in the past five decades, the average temperature of the river source region has risen 0.88 degrees Celsius. As a result, glacier coverage has reduced by 17 percent, causing a 2.39-billion-cubic-meter loss in water resources.

Liu Shiyin, from the CAS institute, warned that the shortage of water resources and decline of flow rates would threaten regional social and economic development.

According to the report, dramatic climatic changes have resulted in a chain of environmental problems that have gravely undermined the region's water retaining capacity.

Li Moxuan, Greenpeace climatic changes project manager, said the key to the problem is to promote the use of renewable energy in a bid to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases.

Liu suggested that solar and wind energy would be ideal substitutes.

On August 31, the government launched a 7.5 billion yuan (US$925 million) project to protect Sanjiangyuan, the source of the country's three major rivers, the Yangtze, Yellow River and Lancang River (also known as the Mekong).

(Xinhua News Agency October 11, 2005)