Larger protection zone will be set up to prevent glacier damage by tourists

Many tourists leave garbage such as empty bottles and plastic bags after camping on the mountain.

"Climate change is the primary cause of glaciers retreating. However, the influence of tourism, grazing and mining has also exerted an influence on Glacier No 1," said Li Zhongqin, director of the Tianshan Mountains Glacier Observation Station under the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

"Now, the melting is speeding up. I hope authorities can implement the new regulations as soon as possible to protect the glaciers."

An earlier Xinhua report showed that the 4.8 million-year-old Glacier No 1 had shrunk from 1.95 sq km in 1962 to 1.62 sq km in 2014 and is retreating by up to eight meters a year.

Other mountains in Xinjiang have experienced the same trend.

In recent years, melting glaciers have accounted for 25 to 30 percent of surface runoff in Xinjiang, and resulted in an in creased risk of natural disasters.

On May 5, a glacial slide in Akto county of the Kizilsu Kirghiz autonomous prefecture damaged 1,000 hectares of meadow and 70 farmhouses. "From remote sensing images, we found that two weeks of snowfall at the north side of Kongur Tiube glacier caused the collapse. Such drastic glacier movement is very rare in the history of Xinjiang, and we should take it as a warning from nature," Li said.

Kongur Tiube, which means "the mountain with a white cap" in the local language, is the second highest peak of Western Kunlun with an elevation of 7,530 meters.