On Nov. 19, a conference on the outcomes of the Second Tibetan Plateau Scientific Expedition and Research was held in Lhasa, capital of southwest China's Xizang Autonomous Region, releasing representative achievements including changes in the "Asian Water Tower" and their impacts, carbon sink functions and potential, changes in ecosystems and biodiversity, human adaptation to high-altitude environments and green development, the effects of plateau uplift and so on.

Significant achievements of the expedition mainly include scientific support for legislation on plateau ecological protection, establishment of a platform for Earth observation and early warning, and innovative technologies for disaster prevention and control in permafrost regions, aiding major infrastructure projects like the Sichuan-Xizang Railway and expressways.

Yao Tandong, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, provided a detailed introduction to the new understanding of environmental transitions on the Qinghai-Xizang Plateau gained from the expedition. Research indicates that the Qinghai-Xizang Plateau has undergone three significant environmental transitions: the first was driven by the flipping of mountains and seas and differential uplift, which pushed the monsoon northward and facilitated the transport of warm, moist marine air; the second was marked by the uplift of the northern part and the formation of the modern plateau, establishing a cold, arid pattern and a tri-polar linkage; the third is driven by global changes and human activities, resulting in the plateau's warming and wetting trend as well as "darkening" (increased vegetation cover). This third environmental transition brings new opportunities for the habitable development of the Qinghai-Xizang Plateau: the enhanced water supply capacity of the "Asian Water Tower" supports national water resource security and water safety strategies; the increased carbon sink capacity aids in achieving the national "dual carbon" goals; and the enhanced potential of biodiversity to serve humanity ensures the sustainable use of biological resources. At the same time, the new environmental transition also poses risks to habitable development, such as imbalances in the "Asian Water Tower" and cryosphere disasters, ecosystem imbalances, and ecological fragmentation. In response to these challenges, the expedition team has built a comprehensive Earth system multi-sphere observation platform, achieving real-time monitoring of atmospheric, glacial, runoff, and other elements in basins such as the Three-River-Source and Yarlung Zangbo River. They have also established intelligent monitoring and early warning systems for chain cryosphere disasters, such as the ice collapse blocking rivers in the Yarlung Zangbo River and the glacial lake outburst in Nyalam, providing precise disaster prevention and mitigation solutions for the site selection and maintenance of major projects as well as resident evacuation.

The conference aims to systematically advance the integration of major results from the second scientific expedition, accelerate the transformation of scientific and technological achievements into practical productivity, better serve and support the construction of an ecological civilization highland on the Qinghai-Xizang Plateau and high-quality economic and social development, and continuously consolidate and expand China's international influence in the field of Qinghai-Xizang Plateau scientific research.

Reporter: Pan Lu, Zhi Xinghua

Edior: Zhi Xinghua

Review: Li Chengye