Glaciers on Mount Everest have shrunk by 28% in the last 40 years due to climate change, according to a report released on Monday. The report was compiled by the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the Hunan University of Science and Technology, and Mount Qomolangma Snow Leopard Conservation Centre. It also said that Mount Everest has been getting warmer for the last 50 years. Its glaciers are the source of major Asian rivers such as the Ganga and the Brahmaputra.

In the report, the glacial shrinkage area was compared to the measurements taken in the 1970s. The glacial area of the south slope of the world’s highest mountain has decreased by 26% since the 1980s, it added. As a result of this rapid shrinkage, glacial lakes have swelled and downstream river levels have risen.