Dear TPE community,
2021 has been a year of change. COVID has transformed how we live, work, and most importantly, think. TPE is no stranger to change. After all, we are a community committed to understanding environmental change and its impact. Nonetheless, we are challenged by these new realities and are rising to the challenge with what we do best—science, cooperation, and vision.
During the past year, we have made significant progress in understanding changes in the Asian Water Tower and their impact. We found the Asian Water Tower has been experiencing imbalanced changes featured by accelerated reduction in the solid-state water storage of glaciers, permafrost and snow cover, as against extensive increase in liquid-state water of lakes and rivers. The impact of such change is far-reaching. The most serious consequences are now occurring in South Asia big rivers and Central Asia big lakes. Such changes and consequences have not only altered the use of water resources in the middle and lower reaches of these rivers in the short run but have also led to more frequent and catastrophic disasters such as glacier collapses and glacial lake outburst floods (GLOFs). To adapt to the changes, we have developed and implemented monitoring and early warning systems for Sedongpu glacier collapse in the Yarlung Tsangpo River Basin and Cirenmaco GLOF in the Poiqu River Basin. We have also set up multi-sphere earth system observation super-platform in the Lhasa River Basin which is expected to serve as a model for early-warning, restoration and governance for sustainable development.
Throughout 2021, we have also continued to work closely with our international partners, such as WMO, UNEP, UNESCO, Arctic Circle and IGS, through the STEP and Pan-TPE science projects. As part of this work, TPE will publish the Third Pole Environment Assessment in cooperation with UNEP in January. TPE also shared its research findings on Asian Water Tower changes and proposed future research priorities during the WCRP Climate Research Forum. In addition, our training programs jointly organized with collaborators have reached 67 participants from universities and research institutions from China, Germany, Nepal, Pakistan, France and India.
TPE is also embracing the changing times with updated vision. TPE co-chairs and key experts met online a month ago to discuss the next phase of TPE research. We focused our discussion on future efforts to integrate the multi-spherical processes of the Earth system, understand environmental extremes and their triggering mechanisms, and explore how Third Pole changes are related to larger scale feedback in order to better inform adaptation efforts. We proposed implementation plans to synthesize paleoclimate records, develop integrated models, as well as establish real-time observation platforms. Furthermore, we discussed plans for the next TPE workshop. Information on the date and format of the workshop will be announced later.
As we wrap up another busy and successful year at TPE, we wish you a happy and healthy 2022!
Third Pole Environment (TPE) Program Office
