China launched a scientific expedition in Lhasa on Sunday to investigate the Qinghai-Xizang Plateau -- known as Asia's "water tower" -- with a target region encompassing "one glacier, two lakes and three rivers."
The region is home to Purog Kangri Glacier, the largest glacier in the world, located in the mid to low-latitude regions, as well as Siling Lake and Namtso Lake, the largest and second-largest lakes in Xizang, respectively. It is also the birthplace of the Yangtze River, Nujiang River and Yarlung Zangbo River.
Over the past 20 years, the climate and environment in the region have experienced dramatic changes, including accelerated glacier retreat and rapid lake expansion. These transformations have affected the structure and function of the regional ecosystem, with significant implications for human survival and development.
This scientific expedition, based on an Earth system science perspective, will identify the characteristics of regional climate and ecological changes and reveal the mechanisms behind these changes.
It will also assess the key functional changes in regional ecological security barriers, and propose critical measures for ecological protection and restoration, along with scientific recommendations for green development.
Over 400 researchers, led by renowned scientists such as Yao Tandong and Lonnie Thompson, will participate in the expedition.
They will be organized into six research teams, each with their own focus, including changes and impacts on Asia's "water tower," ecosystems and carbon cycles, alpine environments and health, resource and energy prospects, structural and environmental evolution, and pathways to green development.
The research team studying the changes and impacts on Asia's "water tower" will employ a floating airship observation platform and ice-surface in-situ observations to reveal the processes and mechanisms of glacier material and energy changes.
By drilling lake cores from Namtso Lake, researchers will investigate its history of climate and environmental changes.
Additionally, they will examine how glacier changes impact the surrounding lake clusters of the Purog Kangri Glacier, uncovering the interplay between glacier melting, runoff changes and lake expansion under the climate change.
The ecosystem and carbon cycle research team will carry out an extensive survey of vegetation and soil in the permafrost regions of the Purog Kangri Glacier and the Yangtze River source area.
By integrating traditional drilling methods with cutting-edge geophysical technologies, the team aims to fill the current gaps in carbon cycle monitoring for permafrost regions.
The research team focusing on structural and environmental evolution will conduct scientific drilling with over a thousand meters of rock cores in the Lunpola Basin. Researchers will study climate and ecological environment proxy indicators to reveal the environmental evolution history of the central Qinghai-Xizang plateau.
The green development pathways research team will conduct a comprehensive study of the natural ecology and human activity patterns in Qiangtang National Park. The team will assess the impact of mineral resource constraints and evaluate how climate change affects rivers and lakes in the region.
Researchers will also conduct a scientific evaluation of the resource and environmental carrying capacity of the Lhasa-centered city cluster and propose models and pathways for green development.