He said, "Where there is ice, it is my laboratory." ”
In recent days, many places around the world have "high fever" and extreme weather has occurred frequently. What happened to the earth? To this end, Liberation Weekend interviewed Academician Qin Dahe, who has been working in the field of climate change and sustainable development research for many years.
"Where there's ice, it's my lab." As the only scientist in China who has crossed the Antarctic continent on foot and is still deeply involved in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau and the Greenland ice sheet at the age of 70, Qin Dahe said, "In the polar and snowy mountain expeditions I have experienced, there have been moments between life and death, but I have always believed that the exploration of life by earth scientists should be cautious and careful, but always move forward." ”
Recent photo of Academician Qin Dahe
Over the next 20 years, global temperature rises are expected to reach or exceed 1.5°C, with extreme weather becoming more frequent and intense
Liberation Weekend: Extreme weather has become more frequent in recent years. Especially this summer, the highest temperature records in many countries and regions have been continuously broken. What do you think of you as a scientist with a long-term focus on climate change?
Qin Dahe: In fact, in recent years, extreme weather with increasing frequency is not only high temperature, but also storm surge, drought, flood and other disasters. I think that by the end of this century, these situations will be more frequent and intense. This will increase economic and social pressures, and cross-sectoral and cross-regional complex climate change risks will increase and become more difficult to manage.
According to meteorological records, the average global surface temperature has been rising since the beginning of the 20th century. Beginning in the 1950s, the rate of ascent accelerated markedly, the cryosphere retreated, sea levels rose, and natural disasters became more frequent and intense. Warming intensified since the 1980s, particularly in the middle and high latitudes of the Northern Hemisphere.
In 2014, the Fifth Assessment Report released by the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change noted that from 1901 to 2012, the global average surface temperature increased by about 0.89 °C. Last year, the commission's sixth report pointed out that from 2011 to 2020, the global surface temperature rose by 1.09 °C compared with pre-industrial levels, and from the average temperature change projections for the next 20 years, the global temperature rise is expected to reach or exceed 1.5 °C. Climate change will intensify in all regions in the coming decades. Unless greenhouse gas emissions are reduced immediately, rapidly and on a large scale, the goal of limiting warming to close to 1.5°C or even 2°C will be difficult to achieve.
Liberation Weekend: What does it mean to warm up to 1.5°C or 2°C?
Qindahe: For every 1 °C increase in the average surface temperature, the water vapor content in the air increases by about 7%. In terms of probability, rainfall will increase, precipitation areas will change, and in addition, it will lead to increased typhoon intensity. In fact, climate change is not just a matter of temperature, it is bringing about a variety of different combinatorial changes in different regions, and these changes will increase with further warming, including changes in wet and dry, changes in wind, snow and ice, changes in coastal areas and changes in the ocean.
At 1.5°C global warming, heat waves will increase, warm seasons will be prolonged, while cold seasons will shorten; at 2°C global warming, extreme heating will hit critical tolerance thresholds for agricultural production and human health more frequently. Climate change is exacerbating the water cycle, which brings stronger rainfall and flooding, but in many areas it means more severe droughts. Throughout the 21st century, sea levels in coastal areas will continue to rise, which will lead to more frequent and severe coastal flooding in low-lying areas and will lead to coastal erosion. Extreme sea level events, which were once in a century, could occur every year by the end of the century.
Another phenomenon worth noting is that in some places, heat waves and drought events occur close together, or even at the same time. An area with little time to recover between two extreme weather events poses a particular risk.
Liberation Weekend: You do cryosphere research. Can climate change also be seen in the changes in the cryosphere?
Qin Dahe: There is a saying called "Ice Prophet of Climate Change". Since 1979, arctic sea ice has shrunk significantly. In the 1970s, the September sea ice in the Arctic Ocean ranged from 10 million to 12 million square kilometers. According to the latest data from the International Snow and Ice Resource Center, the september sea ice range of the Arctic Ocean has shrunk to about 400 square kilometers. Reduced sea ice ranges can greatly affect the weather and climate of Europe, the Americas and Asia. Disasters such as cold snaps in winter and heavy precipitation in summer may be related to this.
Similarly, the amount (volume) of sea ice in the Arctic Ocean is decreasing. The amount of sea ice in the Arctic Ocean is the lowest in September and the highest in March. In September 2017, the amount of ice was reduced to about 4,000 cubic kilometers, compared with 16,000 cubic kilometers in September 1979, and the amount of sea ice fell by 75% in 38 years. From this series of data, it is not difficult to see the current grim situation of climate change.
Liberation Weekend: How should humanity respond to such a daunting challenge? Can we slow or even change the pace of climate change?
Qin Dahe: Human actions have the potential to determine the future climate trend. There is evidence that while other greenhouse gases and air pollutants can also affect the climate, carbon dioxide remains a major driver of climate change. Stabilizing the climate requires significant, rapid and sustained reductions in greenhouse gas emissions. This is very difficult and requires the joint efforts of the whole world to have hope.
Since choosing a dry glacier line, I have to climb mountains, I have to eat and sleep, and I have to live on a plateau with thin air
Liberation Weekend: You have a deep knowledge of geography and climate and glacial permafrost. But few people know that you are also "the first person in China to cross the Antarctic continent on foot" and "the only scientist in the world who has continuously collected ice and snow specimens below one meter above the Surface of Antarctica." Can you recall that thrilling Antarctic expedition?
Qin Dahe: It was 1989, and I participated in a scientific expedition composed of 6 scientists and explorers of different nationalities, stepping on skis, walking for 220 days and nights, traveling 5896 kilometers, completing the first trek across the Antarctic continent without mechanical means in human history.
I was 42 years old and a lot of my memories were blurred. When I think about it now, my first impression is that on January 12, 1990, on the day I arrived at the South Pole, the whole team stood in front of the South Pole marker for a group photo. At that time, I held a five-star red flag in my hand, and in the ice and snow, the red flag was particularly bright and beautiful. I am also particularly excited, because at this moment, I represent China.
Liberation Weekend: Was that your first time on the South Pole?
Qin Dahe: No, I have been to Antarctica twice before. Antarctica is a mecca for glaciologists, and for a glaciologist, Antarctica is the ideal place for scientific research. Because there is the largest ice sheet on the earth, the Antarctic Ice Sheet, where 86% of the world's glacial ice is concentrated, there is unlimited attraction and appeal.
Although I have been to Antarctica twice, the difficulty of that time is not the same as before.
Before going on the expedition, you have to deal with your teeth. There is no medical condition in the Antarctic interior, and if you have teeth problems and you can't eat during the hike, your life will be threatened. The American doctor advised me to remove all the "suspect" teeth. For that trip to Antarctica, I had 10 teeth removed at a time.
For various reasons, I missed the intensive training camp before the expedition. You can't ski when you start, you can only run behind the team, which is many times more difficult than running on land. After countless heels, I was finally able to ski all day.
Liberation Weekend: While you're on a trekking adventure, you'll also have important sampling tasks on your shoulders.
Qin Dahe: Yes. Snowfall on the Antarctic ice sheet does not melt, and year after year, under the action of low temperatures and gravity, the density of snow gradually increases, and finally glacial ice forms. Material from the atmosphere and even outer space settles onto the snow on the surface of the ice sheet. Therefore, the collection of snow pits and surface snow samples for analysis can obtain a lot of quantitative information on the changes in the earth's climate and environment, which is of great significance for glaciology and the study of earth's environmental climate change.
Every time I go to the camp, according to the "international division of labor", I have to participate in feeding the dogs, supporting the tent, boiling water and cooking, and after I am busy, I can lift the shovel to go outside to collect snow samples, and every 55 kilometers, dig a 1-meter-deep snow pit on the spot, observe and record the snow profile, and collect snow samples. At that time, I cut it with an axe when I couldn't dig, and after a few months, 3 shovels were dug up. During the nearly 6,000 kilometers of snowstorm, I collected more than 800 precious snow samples, especially precious snow and ice samples from "inaccessible areas" of Antarctica.
At that time, another foreign scientist in the same team was tasked with the Antarctic Ozone Layer Observation Expedition, which required the use of precision instruments. On the eve of approaching the pole, the team encountered a series of storms, and for the safety of life, it was necessary to lightly load and reduce the load, and his scientific research equipment had to endure pain. In contrast, I was lucky enough to be able to keep doing it with a shovel.
I collected more than 800 snow samples, packed them in pre-purified plastic boxes to ensure they were always frozen, and finally packed them into a 1.5-meter square box. After the completion of the expedition, the box was first transported by plane to the French laboratory, then returned to Beijing, China, and finally delivered to the Lanzhou Institute of Glaciology and Geocryology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. I still remember when I picked up, the big box was tightly wrapped, dry ice, incubator, anti-collision cotton... Inside the three layers and three outer layers, people who don't know think that it is a big TV set inside, which is actually a big treasure needed for future research on the mainland.
This set of research on the snow and ice samples of the 1-meter snow pit on the surface of the Antarctic ice sheet enriches the content of antarctic glacier and climatic environment research, which is of great scientific significance. To this day, it still has its value.
Liberation Weekend: In the preface to your later Antarctic Diary, you describe the situation this way: "What sustained you on 220 hard days and nights, in the reckless wilderness of the blizzard, the tents that stooped and groaned, the expeditions who staggered against the wind and the dogs who pulled the sleds..." What sustained you on 220 hard days and nights?
Qin Dahe: low temperatures, blizzards, food shortages, hard travel, boring labor, exhaustion and having to go out of the tent to "overtime" sampling... These do require a lot of perseverance. I have been reminding myself that trekking across antarctica is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, the opportunity must not be missed, the time will not come again, and there must not be a moment of laziness, otherwise a lot of precious information will be lost. I tighten this string in my head every day, and I will never let go. Because I knew that even if I loosened it once, I would be like a domino, and I would collapse in all directions.
I am an earth science worker. Ever since I chose the dry glacier line, I decided that I had to climb the mountain, I had to eat and sleep, and I had to live on a plateau with thin air. Only under difficult conditions can people better understand themselves, and the joy of career is also hidden in this hard struggle. This is my profession and it is the right thing to do.
Liberation Weekend: It's a high-risk career.
Qin Dahe: When it comes to risks, people staying at home may also be risky.
Academics once told me that when working on the glacier, as long as you wear crampons and connect a few people with a safety rope, you will be 100% safe. If you don't act as required, you will be 100% unsafe. An overseas colleague I worked with was working on the Greenland Ice Sheet a few years ago when he was in an accident because he didn't wear a safety rope. In the polar and alpine expeditions I have experienced, there have also been moments between life and death, but I have always believed that the exploration of life by earth scientists should be cautious and careful, but always move forward.
Ice and snow are also golden mountains and silver mountains, and the cryosphere is related to the implementation of the strategy of large-scale development of the western region and the safety of major national project construction
Liberation Weekend: You have been associated with ice and snow all your life, pioneered the concept of cryosphere science internationally, and created the first national key laboratory named after cryosphere science. What kind of science is cryosphere science?
Qindahe: Cryosphere refers to the part of the surface water body that exists in solid form, which is a continuous distribution of the cryosphere layer. Cryosphere science researches the characteristics, formation mechanism, development process, etc. of the constituent elements of the cryosphere, as well as the interaction with other circles and the impact on human society. The cryosphere is highly sensitive to climate change and has an important feedback effect, together with the atmosphere, the hydrosphere, the lithosphere (land surface layer), and the biosphere, which constitute the Earth's climate system.
At present, in the context of global warming and the retreat of the cryosphere, cryosphere science has received unprecedented attention, and has become one of the most active areas in the study of the international climate system and global change, and it is also a hot spot in the field of global change and sustainable development research. The climate and cryosphere program, a new core program for world climate research launched in the early 21st century, was launched by the mainland as one of the initiators of this scientific program. It has become an international trend to regard the cryosphere as a whole, and to carry out systematic and integrated research on a global scale through multidisciplinary intersection, new technology application, and major planning.
Liberation Weekend: What is the hottest and most cutting-edge direction in this field at present?
Qin Dahe: Cryosphere changes are sensitive indicators of climate change. The climatic and environmental information stored in the cryosphere is abundant. Snow cover, river and lake sea ice, changes in the extent and amount of ice in glaciers and polar ice sheets, concentrations of physico-chemical organisms in ice layers, ice margin landforms, peat deposits, underground ice, drilling temperatures, etc., can reflect the climate change of the Earth's environment on different time scales. In particular, ice cores can provide rich and high-resolution climatic and environmental records for global change research, so they have become the research objects that scientists from all over the world "compete" for.
The "European Antarctic Ice Core Drilling Project" scientific research team began to drill ice cores in the Antarctic Ice Dome C in 1995, and the ice cores obtained can reproduce the temperature changes and atmospheric composition changes in Antarctica over the past 800,000 years, contributing to the science of climate change.
Mainland scientists have also made remarkable progress in drilling ice cores – on March 25, 2006, China's 21st Antarctic expedition triumphed. One of the biggest takeaways from the expedition was the successful drilling of an ice core up to 135 meters in length on Ice Dome A, the highest point of the Antarctic ice sheet.
In addition, I would like to emphasize that cryosphere science not only studies the properties of nature, but also pays great attention to the relationship with human social economy, which is the intersection of natural science and social science.
Liberation Weekend: What is the current state of the cryosphere on the mainland?
Qindahe: The continental cryosphere is widely distributed, which not only has important climatic effects, but also is an important water source for the economic development of arid areas and oasises and the stability of the ecosystem in arid areas, which is related to the implementation of the strategy for the large-scale development of the western region and the safety of major national project construction. China's cryosphere is also the source of Asia's great rivers, directly nourishing the 2.7 billion people in the basin.
We have just completed the "Research on the Formation Process of Cryosphere Service Functions in China and Its Comprehensive Zoning", a major project of the National Natural Science Foundation of China. Ice and snow are also golden mountains and silver mountains. We have focused on the mechanism between the cryosphere process in China and the serviceability of water resources, ecology and human services and their permafrost snow engineering service and its future evolution trend, established a theoretical methodology for the study of cryosphere service functions and its comprehensive service function evaluation system, hoped to occupy the international commanding heights of cryosphere scientific theory, formulate a comprehensive service function zoning plan for China's cryosphere, and ultimately serve the national and local development strategy decision-making.
I'm 75 years old this year and still working on my dream of being 12. We sincerely welcome more young people to join the team, and we strive together
Liberation Weekend: In 2013, you received the Volvo Environment Award, the world's highest award in the field of environment. As the first Chinese to win the award, how did you feel at that time?
Qin Dahe: I still remember my acceptance speech at that time - scientific research gave me the opportunity to step on the Antarctic ice sheet, the glaciers of the Himalayas on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, and the resource environment and meteorological work made me pay attention to the protection of climate, the protection of the environment and sustainable development, and it is a great honor to be awarded. Climate change response and environmental protection is a sacred and arduous work, it is difficult to win alone, long-term solidarity and cooperation is the road to success, this cause requires a group of like-minded people to work together for a long time.
Liberation Weekend: Looking back on your work experience, you have not only been a member of the scientific expedition team, a researcher, teaching in universities, but also served as the director of the China Meteorological Administration, presiding over the assessment of China's climate and environmental evolution. How do multiple identities give you?
Qin Dahe: I think these identities complement each other. Decision-making is inseparable from scientific basis and professionalism, and it also deepens my desire for science. The position of graduate supervisor also gives me more opportunities to contact young researchers and collide with their ideas.
Liberation Weekend: Before the Beijing Winter Olympics, you organized a team to conduct snow quality and meteorological observations in Beijing and Zhangjiakou. It is said that there are many young participants among them?
Qin Dahe: Yes, due to the difficulty of controlling the amount and quality of natural snow, the ski track has to be built in the form of artificial snowmaking. After knowing that the Winter Olympics were going to be held, I thought that Beijing in the context of the continental monsoon climate may be short of snow, and it is necessary to prepare for artificial snowmaking in advance. We organized a group of young scientists to carry out snow quality observation and research on the snow field, and successfully built an outdoor ski track in accordance with IOC standards; At the same time, artificial snowmaking and snow storage experiments were carried out to ensure the smooth progress of the event and realize the freedom of snow use for the Beijing Winter Olympics. To this end, our young people have taken root in Hebei and Northeast China in winter and went to the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau in summer, and have made good achievements in theory and application. Although it is a pity that the relevant data cannot be written into the paper for publication, they have written the paper on the ice and snow track of the Winter Olympics, which I admire very much.
Liberation Weekend: Not long ago, you sent a message to your fellow youth that there should be a "world vision" and "strategic thinking" in geographical research. Why is there any emphasis on these two points?
Qin Dahe: In terms of completeness, there are 16 words I want to express - world vision, strategic thinking, home and country feelings, and feeding back to society. The study of geography itself is a global undertaking, not just a small river or a small mountain. We should pursue the most cutting-edge fields, cutting-edge technologies and the highest level of research in the world from a higher perspective.
Strategic thinking refers to linking research with the Chinese nation and with all mankind. The feeling of home and country is positioned to study the service of the earth's homeland and the service of the country. It is hoped that more young geography scientists will repay the society with lofty ambitions, profound thinking, superb strategies and tactics, and a spirit of dedication.
Liberation Weekend: From your own experience, it is not easy to do geography research. Can today's young people afford to suffer?
Qin Dahe: Personally, it seems that my life has an early connection with geography and glaciers. Because of his work, my father has been engaged in teaching and scientific research in many places. The names of the brothers and sisters in the family all have obvious geographical colors. I was born on the banks of the Yellow River, which is called the Great River. As early as the sixth grade of elementary school, I wrote this passage in my essay: "I want my footprints to be printed in any corner of the earth." "I'm 75 years old this year and I'm still working on my dream when I was 12.
I do have some concerns about the talent team of cryosphere science. Because the "base camp" of this direction is in the Lanzhou Institute of Glaciology and Permafrost of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, some people leave after completing graduate school. In my opinion, it is not that this discipline cannot retain people, but what deters them is the relatively backward environment of the development of the western region. But in fact, the more this is the case, the more talents are needed to form a virtuous circle.
I hope that all parties in society will pay more attention to the scientific work in the western region, and I hope that young people with lofty ideals will see that global warming and extreme climates are frequent, and the entire cryosphere is in a "state of crisis". This is the moment when many fields of scientific research urgently need to fill the big gap and the big discovery is about to occur. I sincerely welcome more young people to join the team, the future is bright, we fight together!
Qin Dahe
Born in 1947. Academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Academician of the Academy of Sciences of Developing Countries, President of the Asian Geographical Society; As a representative of China, he completed the only scientific expedition in human history to cross the Antarctic continent on foot.
Source: Shangguan News
Process Editor: TF016