‘It is the job of this symposium like this one to provide concrete collective proposals to take the issue to water security forward. ‘said International Glaciological Society Secretary-General, a participant at the International Symposium on Third Pole Environment 2023(ISTPE).
The ISTPE, held during November 14-17 in Chongqing, China, witnessed 11 academic sessions covering: (1) Climate Change over the Tibetan Plateau and Its Global Linkages, (2) Water Cycle and Water Security, (3) Biodiversity and Ecosystem Service,(4) Biogeochemical Cycle, (5) Environment and Health, (6) High Resolution Paleoclimate Records and Abrupt Climate Change, (7) Prehistoric Human Activity, (8) Impact of Tibetan Plateau on Climatic and Organic Evolution, (9) Plateau Uplift and Resource Effects, (10) Disaster Risk and Response, and (11) Knowledge and Actions. The largest conference held so far internationally on the TPE study, it has effectively boosted academic communication and opened channels for further cooperation.
During the four-day event, oral presentations were made in both plenary and parallel sessions by scientists throughout the world. Latest progresses in the Third Pole Environment research effort were communicated, with participants being updated of major international programs focusing on in situ observations and satellite monitoring for this region. Participating scientists reported their systematic academic discovery published in esteemed international journals, highlighting the cooling at the glacial mass balance line under the global warming scenarios based on decades of observation data on the southern slope of Himalayas. They also gave a comprehensive consideration of possible links among various spheres, and proposed possible linkages among the three poles and studied their impacts on local atmospheric and hydrological cycles. Comparison study of grazing experiment on the Qinghai-Xizang Plateau also facilitated the policy advisory proposition from the scientific perspective.
Hundreds of posters were presented during the symposium, allowing participants to acquaint themselves with latest academic achievements from different perspectives, even some burgeoning research results, and allowing for further facial communication and incubating potential collaborations. The symposium ends on November 17th, 2023, with summary for each session and further action plans.
This symposium was called upon by worldly renowned scientists including Profs Tandong Yao, Lonnie G. Thompson, Volker Mosbrugger, Deliang Chen and Philip Ciais. It was organized by the TPE program, Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research Chinese Academy of Sciences and Second Tibetan Plateau Science and Technology Expedition. Local support was given by Chongqing Science and Technology Bureau, Chongqing Jiaotong University and Southwest University. Over 650 participants registered in the symposium from over 19 countries including China, US, Germany, Sweden, Japan, Nepal, U.K., France, Switzerland, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Norway, Austria, Singapore, Uzbekistan, Iceland, and etc.
In the current world with more frequent extreme events and accelerated warming worldwide, more people realized that climate challenge is not a mission that can be accomplished by one nation or party, but need international cooperation, deployment of more advanced technology and innovation in technology and pooling of talents and intelligence. The kickoff of the ISTPE in Chongqing under such a milieu is believed to usher in a new era featured by earth system science mindset and multi-disciplinary research as a major approach.
