The Tibetan glaciers are greatly affected by the circulations of the westerlies and the Indian summer monsoon (ISM), but the mechanisms remain to be elucidated. In this project, we investigated the surface energy and mass balance of the Qiangtang No.1 Glacier in the inland Tibetan Plateau. Combining 4‐year mass balance and meteorological records near the equilibrium line altitude with an energy‐based mass balance model, we found that the meteorological conditions, which determined the glacier surface ablation and mass accumulation, are critically linked to changes in the intensity of the westerlies and the ISM. The 4‐year mass balance comparisons demonstrated that the enhancement of the ISM in June and July, especially June, greatly increases the mass accumulation but inhibits the glacial ablation in the melt season, shifting the mass balance in a positive direction. Moreover, the occurrence of the westerlies enhancement interrupts the dominance of the ISM in the melt season. The intensified westerlies in the early melt season (June) could not only reduce the mass accumulation but also enhance the mass loss in the following months. In addition, the enhancement of the westerlies in the main melt season (July) could also greatly influence the local meteorological conditions, with lower temperatures and humidity but higher wind speeds. Such meteorological changes significantly reduce glacial ablation because more energy is consumed by sublimation and/or evaporation, rather than surface melting. These findings will enhance our understanding of the mechanisms underlying glacier changes and their relationships with the westerlies and the ISM in the inland Tibetan Plateau.

The Tibetan Plateau (TP) has experienced amplified warming in recent decades, causing glaciers to melt and affecting river runoff. It is well established that the southern and northern areas of the TP have responded to climate changes differently, with the north dominated by a westerly climate and the south by the Indian monsoon. While there are more glaciers in the TP than in any other region outside the polar areas, most of these glaciers are tiny, and only a limited number of them have been monitored to study mass balance and downward runoff. This study used the mass balance measured at two glaciers along with in situ and satellite data to drive a hydrological model called the Alpine Runoff Predictor that includes glacier melt to simulate glacial melting and the accompanying hydrological processes of the two glacierized basins, analyze their contributions to the river runoffs, and investigate their responses to local climate changes. The results show that the glacier meltwater in both river basins showed an increasing trend, with values of 0.001 × 10⁸ m³ a⁻¹ in the Kyanjing River basin and 0.0095 × 10⁸ m³ a⁻¹ in the Tuole River basin. However, their multi-year average contributions to the runoff were 12.5% and 5.6%, respectively. In contrast to the Tuole River basin, where runoff is increasing (0.0617 × 10⁸ m³ a⁻¹), the Kyanjing River basin has decreasing runoff (−0.0216 × 10⁸ m³ a⁻¹) as a result of decreasing precipitation. This result highlights the dominant role played by precipitation changes in the two basins under study, which are characterized by small glacier meltwater contributions.

Extreme glacier mass loss on the Tibetan Plateau (TP) has seldom been investigated, limiting our knowledge of regional water availability and glacier‐related natural hazards. Here we present glacier mass balance estimates for the south–central TP based on glacio‐meteorological observations and geodetic data from 1960 to 2019. The results show that the frequency, intensity, and variability of extreme glacier mass loss events have increased and shifted in recent decades. The extreme mass loss events are mainly attributed to the extremely high air temperature ( T _a ) during the ablation season (June–September), which generates exceptionally high incoming longwave radiation and sensible heat fluxes that greatly reduce albedo and enhance melting. The high T _a on the south–central TP is linked to that over the northeastern Indian subcontinent by enhanced southerly wind, which, as a component of the Indian summer monsoon, transports heat northward from the Indian subcontinent to the TP. The enhanced T _a in both regions is further associated with European geopotential heights, western tropical Indian Ocean sea surface temperatures, and regional warming trends. This study demonstrates that glacier and climate changes on the TP are influenced by heat variations in the surrounding lowlands, where dominant winds associated with large‐scale atmospheric circulation transport the heat into the TP. Thus, further research on identifying key regions of surrounding lowlands that contribute to the climate changes on the TP, and mitigating climate warming in key heat‐source regions (e.g., Indian subcontinent), are crucial for the preservation of glaciers on the TP.