Chinese desert freshwater lake gradually disappears

China's largest desert freshwater lake has shrunk at a record pace over the past 4 years.

Lake Hongjiannao is facing the prospect of completely evaporating from the world map - (Photo: sspp)

Chinese meteorological agencies have just released data showing that the Hongjiannao lake area has fallen by nearly a third in size compared to 2009.

Currently Hongjiannao Lake , a few hundred kilometers to the west of Beijing, is now reduced to 32.16 km ² , while the area in 1969 was about 67 km ² .

"Experts warn that human activity including reservoir construction, mining and agricultural irrigation are the causes of the sadness ," Xinhua said.

Located in Shaanxi Province adjacent to Inner Mongolia, China's largest desert-sized freshwater lake is likely to disappear completely in a few decades.