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On Aug 20th, expedition of the EU-China River Basin Management Programme (RBMP) investigated the Cold and Arid Regions Environment and Engineering Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAREERI, CAS) in Lanzhou City. In recent years, CAREERI has dispatched several expeditions to the Yellow River source area for researching the causations of ecological deterioration there.
?Climate change is the main causation of ecological deterioration in the riverhead area?said Ding Yongjian, vice superintendent of CAREERI. For the temperature rising caused by global warming results in glacier and frozen earth melting, river and everglade shrinking, the domino effect has been brought. As a remarkable part of ecological system, the wide permafrost of Qinghai-Tibet plateau is the basis of ecological balance in the riverhead area. However, with the trend of temperature rising, the permafrost could not get frozen in cold seasons, therefore, large area of frozen earth is degrading, and it causes groundwater infiltration as well as shrinking of lakes in the riverhead area. Furthermore, the degradation of frozen earth is bringing decrease of soil moisture, descendent of vegetation cover degree and desertification, which are expediting degradation of frozen earth meanwhile, therefore, a vicious circle has been set up.
The expert of RBMP indicated that the living circumstance and ecological safety of the people living along the Yellow River are all influenced by the ecological deterioration in the riverhead area which is named as Cistern of the Yellow River. It is urgent to protect the riverhead area and prevent ecological deterioration there. Consistent activities should be implemented in the world widely facing the climate change and only by doing this, ecological environment in riverhead area could be improved ultimately and zero-flow could be prevented.
Background:
Cold and Arid Regions Environment and Engineering Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Sciences (Abbreviated as CAREERI, CAS) is a newly re-organized institute in June 1999 from former three institutes of Chinese Academy of Sciences in Lanzhou, the Institute of Glaciology and Geocryology, Institute of Desert Research and Institute of Plateau Atmospheric Physics. The new institute aims at disciplinary integration and scientific synthesis, based on retaining the unique and distinguished present disciplines. Now there are 200 full-time employees, with 55 titled as professors, in the new institute.
The Institute is now strengthening its research activities in the major fields, such as glaciology, geocryology, desert research, plateau atmospheric science, hydrology and water resource as well as restoration ecology and ecological agriculture. With these scientific concentrations, the Institute can respond adequately to the requirements of national objectives in the development in the west China and can be a producer of fundamental theory and key technology for the rational development and utilization of land and natural resources, environmental protection and ecological construction.
Source: yrcc |
