Hey climate nerds, ever wondered what secrets lie deep inside glaciers? ❄️🔬 Since 2017, Chinese and international teams have been on a second, eight-year scientific quest across the Qinghai-Xizang Plateau, tackling climate change, biodiversity, and environmental shifts.
This isn’t your average field trip. Researchers are drilling into glaciers—think of them as time machines made of ice—pulling out cores that span up to 3,323 meters from 12 different glaciers. Each layer is like a climate diary, preserving snapshots of Earth’s atmosphere, snowfall, and even volcanic eruptions over millions of years!
All those icy samples are carefully stored at the Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research in Lhasa, in southwest China’s Xizang Autonomous Region. According to Xu Baiqing, deputy director at the institute, “The thicker an ice core gets, the longer timeframe it spans. Moreover, its thickness could indicate the presence of ancient ice that could answer very important scientific questions about the evolution and origin of glaciers on the Qinghai-Xizang Plateau.”
So why should young pros from Bangalore to Bangkok care? Understanding these glacier records helps decode future climate patterns—think monsoon shifts in India, typhoon trends in the Philippines, or water supply for highland communities in Vietnam. It’s about connecting the dots between Tibetan ice and our daily weather forecasts! 🌏💧
As glaciers around the world retreat, this high-altitude research shines a spotlight on the planet’s past – and what it could mean for our future. Stay tuned for more cool insights from the roof of the world! 😎
Reference(s):
Qinghai-Xizang Plateau expedition aims to tell the story of glaciers
cgtn.com
