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Pollution in the Himalayas Time to call the sweep? 喜马拉雅山受到了污染 是时候呼吁清扫了吗? Soot gets everywhere. Even into the world s highest mountains 到处都弥漫着烟灰，甚至蔓延到了世界的最高山。 THE Himalayas and the adjacent Tibetan plateau are sometimes referred to as the Earth sthird pole, because of the amount of ice they host. They are also known as Asia s watertower. Their glaciers feed the continent s largest riversand those, in turn, sustain some 1.5billion people. Many studies suggest, though, that the Himalayan glaciers have been shrinkingover the past few decades. This has usually been attributed to rising air temperatures, butclimate researchers have now come to realise that tiny airborne particles of soot and dustare also to blame. Being dark, they absorb sunlight. And that warms their surroundings. 喜马拉雅山及其邻近的青藏高原有时被称作是地球第三极，这是因为它们身上覆盖着大量的冰雪。有时也被称作亚洲水塔，它们所蕴藏的冰川是这片大陆中最大河流的水源，反过来这些河流维系着15亿人的生命。然而许多研究表明在过去的数十年里喜马拉雅山的冰川在不断地减少。这通常是由不断高升的气温所致，但是气候研究人员开始意识到这也归咎于空气中的烟灰粒子和尘埃，因为这些物质是黑色的，所以吸收阳光，进而使得周围气温升高。 | 
