Qinghai-Tibet Plateau research offers insight into effects of climate change

For over two decades, researchers from the Chinese Academy of Sciences' Institute of Mountain Hazards and Environment have been collecting and analyzing ecological data.

Together with other institutes at the CAS they have set up more than 30 monitoring sites, scattered across the plateau from the Zoige grassland near its eastern edge to the western county of Rutog bordering India, as well as from Dromo county on the southern tip to Hoh Xil nature reserve in the north.

"What we have done in essence is put a stethoscope on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau to constantly monitor its breathing," said Wang Xiaodan, a researcher at the institute.

A crucial part of their research rests on measuring the plateau's emissions and absorption of carbon.

Deemed a significant ecological barrier in China, the plateau has a mix of ecological zones represented by glaciers, permafrost, lakes, rivers, alpine meadows and forests, which are used as sites to study carbon processes in various terrestrial ecosystems.

The region's diverse terrain has enabled it to function as a carbon sink — meaning it absorbs more greenhouse gases than it emits.

However, global warming and climate change have sparked concerns that the thawing permafrost on the plateau could release enormous amounts of greenhouse gas.

Further complicating the picture is whether a series of ecology preservation projects carried out in the region could impact its carbon storage capability, researchers added.