<P> The Tibetan Plateau contains the world's third - largest store of ice . Qin Dahe, the former head of the China Meteorological Administration, said the recent fast pace of melting and warmer temperatures will be good for agriculture and tourism in the short term, but issued a strong warning: </P> <Dl> <Dd> <Dl> <Dd> "Temperatures are rising four times faster than elsewhere in China, and the Tibetan glaciers are retreating at a higher speed than in any other part of the world...In the short term, this will cause lakes to expand and bring floods and mudflows...In the long run, the glaciers are vital lifelines of the Indus River . Once they vanish, water supplies in Pakistan will be in peril ." </Dd> </Dl> </Dd> </Dl> <Dd> <Dl> <Dd> "Temperatures are rising four times faster than elsewhere in China, and the Tibetan glaciers are retreating at a higher speed than in any other part of the world...In the short term, this will cause lakes to expand and bring floods and mudflows...In the long run, the glaciers are vital lifelines of the Indus River . Once they vanish, water supplies in Pakistan will be in peril ." </Dd> </Dl> </Dd> <Dl> <Dd> "Temperatures are rising four times faster than elsewhere in China, and the Tibetan glaciers are retreating at a higher speed than in any other part of the world...In the short term, this will cause lakes to expand and bring floods and mudflows...In the long run, the glaciers are vital lifelines of the Indus River . Once they vanish, water supplies in Pakistan will be in peril ." </Dd> </Dl>

The desert between the indus and jhelum river is named as