Experts have a group photo taken at the launching ceremony of "Climate change and green silk road construction in Pan-Third Pole". [Image from CAS]

Chinese research institutions launched a project to conduct water and biodiversity research under climate change in the Pan-Third Pole, according to Chinese Science Daily on Oct 31.

The project, featuring 16 institutions, will study the interactions between water, typical ecosystems and climate change, as well as conduct continuous monitoring and evaluation research on water and biodiversity.

Researchers will work together to find the reasons behind and solutions to the degradation of the alpine grassland ecosystem of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, the slower growth of the artificial breeding yaks and the influence of glacial recession on the plateau's aquatic organisms.

Extended westward and northward from the Third Pole, the 20-million-square kilometer Pan-Third Pole encompasses the Eurasian highlands, according to the Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS).

The researchers will establish a water and biodiversity database for the countries along the Silk Road to provide theoretical support and management strategies for pushing forward the ecological protection of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, the newspaper said.

The project is affiliated with a Strategic Priority A Program of the Pan-Third Pole Environment Study for a Green Silk Road (Pan-TPE) which was launched by CAS in 2018. The program is designed to integrate basic science, applied studies, technology innovation and policy advising.

The program is to explain environmental changes across the Pan-Third Pole and their implications, to provide solutions to environmental challenges in high-priority projects, and to explore pathways for sustainable development along the Silk Road.

Pan-TPE is expected to deliver both scientifically and socially significant results for ecological progress in the Tibetan Plateau and beyond.

Source: Xinhua