Xinhua News Agency, Lanzhou, May 6th Title: Chinese scientists explore diversified glacier protection

　　Xinhua News Agency reporters Zhang Wenjing, Li Linhai, Hu Tao

　　In the Hualanghe Glacier Area of ​​Qilian Mountains in western China, Kang Shichang's research team from the Chinese Academy of Sciences and Gansu Provincial Meteorological Bureau successfully implemented two artificial snow-increasing three-dimensional operations using smoke stoves, rockets and aircraft, trying to slow the melting of glaciers and increase the replenishment of snow ice materials through this measure, thereby effectively protecting glaciers.

　　Glaciers are an important part of the earth's freshwater resources, providing drinking water and irrigation water sources to billions of people around the world, and playing an irreplaceable role in regulating the global climate and maintaining biodiversity.

　　Du Wentao, member of the research team and deputy director of the Frozen Circle and Global Change Research Office of the Northwest Ecological Environment and Resources Institute of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, introduced that by carrying out artificial snow-increasing operations in spring in alpine areas, it can not only increase glacier material replenishment, but also increase glacier surface albedo, reduce solar radiation absorption, and slow down glacier melting intensity, thus benefiting multiple fields such as hydrology, ecology, agriculture, and protecting glaciers at larger basin scales or mountain range scales.

　　As the climate warms, glaciers around the world are melting at an astonishing rate. The latest research published in the British journal Nature shows that between 2000 and 2023, the global glacier material decreased by about 5%, to about 6.542 trillion tons. At the same time, glacier melting continues to accelerate. In 2023, the global glacier material reduction even reached 548 billion tons.

　　The third Chinese glacier catalogue released by the Northwest Institute of Ecology, Environment and Resources, Chinese Academy of Sciences in March shows that the latest glacier area in China is about 46,000 square kilometers, and the total number of glaciers is about 69,000. Compared with the second China glacier catalogue, China's overall glacier area decreased by about 6% between 2008 and 2020.

　　Glacier melting has far-reaching impacts, not only threatening global ecosystems, but also posing challenges to the sustainable development of human society.

　　Kang Shichang, head of the research team and director of the Chengdu Institute of Mountain Disasters and Environment of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Ministry of Water Resources, introduced that glacier melting will trigger a water resource crisis, which will directly lead to sea level rise. In addition, the continuous melting of glaciers will also lead to the instability of the glaciers themselves, which will be more sensitive to external influences, and aggravate the frequency and intensity of glacier disasters and their secondary disaster chains.

　　This is the melting ice surface of the East Velvet Glacier of Mount Everest taken by researchers (photo taken on May 9, 2013). Xinhua News Agency
　　Today, scientific protection of glaciers and strengthening glacier research has become a consensus among the government, academic circles and the people.

　　Covering new materials is a measure currently used for glacier protection. In the Dagu Glacier in Heishui County, Aba Tibetan and Qiang Autonomous Prefecture, Sichuan Province, and the No. 1 Glacier in Urumqi Heyuan, Tianshan, Xinjiang, etc., the Chinese research team used different materials such as specially designed geotextiles and nanomaterials to "cover quilts" the glaciers to help them "reduce fever". This measure has also been used in some glacier tourist sites in Europe.

　　Lis Marie Andreasson, president of the International Society for the Science of the Frozen Circle, believes that global glaciers are experiencing continuous shrinkage, and hope that more new measures can be taken to actively respond to global climate warming, reasonably regulate human activities, and scientifically and efficiently protect glaciers. She called for an effective response to glacier ablation through scientific monitoring and international cooperation.

　　As a strategic resource for maintaining the earth's ecological security, its non-renewableness and strong melting have caused chain reactions such as glacier disasters, water resources crises, and ecological imbalances, which is promoting the accelerated transformation of the international community's consensus on glacier protection from scientific early warning to policy actions.

　　The United Nations General Assembly passed a resolution in 2022, declaring 2025 as the International Year of Glacier Protection and designated March 21 each year as World Glacier Day, aiming to raise awareness of the important role of glaciers in the climate system and hydrological cycles and the impact of rapid ablation of glaciers. In August 2024, the United Nations General Assembly passed a resolution announcing that 2025 to 2034 is the "Decade of Scientific Action in the Frozen Circle", committed to the full chain of promotion from frozen Circle change monitoring, data regulation and sharing to response and protection.

　　Du Wentao told reporters that under the current greenhouse gas emissions, artificial snow increase can effectively protect glaciers. This year, the research team will also strengthen cooperation with the meteorological department, optimize the three-dimensional operation plan for artificial snow-increasing in alpine areas, strive to improve the protection effect, and expand the scope of protection; at the same time, actively introduce new means and continue to do a good job in glacier monitoring and research to obtain more accurate data and lay the foundation for scientific protection.

　　In the view of experts such as Kang Shichang, the actions launched to save glaciers reflect people's attention and care for glaciers, but the most effective way to prevent glaciers from melting is to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. According to the commitments made by the Parties to the 2015 Paris Agreement, the global average temperature increase will be limited to 1.5 degrees Celsius.

　　"There is a long way to go to protect the glaciers, and we are racing against time," said Kang Shichang.

[Editor in charge: Chen Tingyu]