"The Chinese Academy of Social Sciences estimates that the glacial area on the Tibetan-Qinghai plateau, the world’s largest ice sheets outside the poles, is shrinking about 7 percent each year." (Source: Monitor
, Jan 2009 )
This is another great story involving a messy, authentic problem that could be used as a WebQuest. It would be a terrific Geography WebQuest!
For some time now, China has been investigating the diversion of water from Tibet to mainland China (a lot of which is desert). With Global Warming, Tibet's water flow is slowing but this area also feeds some of the biggest rivers in the world.
Students could hold an UN Summit to discuss the issues involved and play the roles from various countries discussing the needs of their countries for water and Water Trading!