Glaciers retreat 18.5 percent since 1950s

The area of western China covered by glaciers has decreased by 18.5 percent since the late 1950s, equivalent to the size of Cyprus, a recent survey shows.

The Cold and Arid Regions Environmental and Engineering Research Institute of the Chinese Academy of Sciences released its second Glacier Inventory of China on Saturday in Beijing.

According to the survey, the country's glaciers have been retreating at a rate of 243.7 square kilometers a year for 60 years, losing nearly 9,000 square kilometers in total.