Super Typhoon Yagi devastated southern China and Vietnam this monthtaking lives and wreaking havoc; Devastating floods hit Bangladesh; and Europe just experienced its hottest summer on record.
The increase in extreme weather events has highlighted the urgency of understand and raise awareness about global climate change.
With the International Workshop on Greenhouse Gases and Climate Change held in northwest China’s Qinghai province earlier this month, the role of background atmospheric observatories in understanding climate change came into focus. The workshop also served as a meeting to commemorate the 30th anniversary of China’s Waliguan Baseline Observatory.
The observatory, located more than 3,800 meters above sea level on the Qinghai-Xizang Plateau, became operational in 1994. It is, to date, the highest global atmospheric background observatory in the world, and China’s only global observatory, apart from the seven regional atmospheric background observatories the country has already established.
Background atmospheric observation refers to the long-term observation, from a fixed point, of completely mixed atmospheric components free of local pollution, in areas far from human activities. The data generated from these observations reveal more precisely the atmospheric conditions and their composition.
Climate change monitoring
Qinghai-Xizang Plateau, known as the “roof of the world”is one of the most sensitive regions to global climate change. Its presence has caused changes in atmospheric circulation, thus having an impact on regional and global climate change.
Its existence too prevents desertification in East and South Asia, unlike what is observed in regions such as North Africa and Central Asia.
On September 17, 1994, the Waliguan Baseline Observatory on the top of Mount Waliguan on the Qinghai-Xizang Plateau.
Before that, China, the United States and the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) They had held talks and signed a cooperation agreement to establish an atmospheric background observatory in western China.
“I spent part of my sabbatical at WMO assisting the Global Atmosphere Monitoring Program (GAW) with various projects at the time when Mount Waliguan was being planned and established as a global station. Mount Waliguan is an especially important site as it can monitor changes in atmospheric composition across Asia.“, remembered Gregory R. Carmichael, Chair of the GAW Scientific Steering Committeecelebrating the opportunity to visit Mount Waliguan 30 years later.
Michael S. Christensen, Danish ambassador to China, noted that providing data to Chinese and international organizations for three decades from the world’s highest station to monitor ozone and greenhouse gases “is no small achievement.”
At the Waliguan observatory, researchers have mapped a “carbon dioxide curve”also known as the “Waliguan curve”, drawn from the observatory’s carbon dioxide concentration monitoring data spanning three decades.
Observational data from the Waliguan observatory have provided important reference to the six evaluation reports published by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) of the United Nations, according to Zhang Peng, director general of Meteorological Observation Center of China Meteorological Administration (CMA).
The carbon dioxide curves, plotted with observational data produced by both the Waliguan Baseline Observatory and the Mauna Loa Observatory in Hawaii, bear witness to the impact of human activities on global climate changeZhang added.
Unfortunately, “Waliguan curve” has shown an upward trend over the past three decades, with the concentration of atmospheric carbon dioxide increasing to 419.3 ppm in 2022.
Paolo Laj, head of the WMO GAWwarned that, without efforts by all countries to reduce emissions, Global temperatures will rise by 1.5 degrees Celsius, which will be “extremely problematic” for many societies.
“We are seeing a change in the composition of the atmosphere, particularly the increase in CO2 and greenhouse gases. “That’s how we know that so far we haven’t done enough, and particularly the most developed countries haven’t done enough to reduce their emissions,” Laj added.
Fight against climate change
China has always been an active participant in the fight against climate change, especially in the last decade. Through concrete actions, China has contributed its best practices and wisdom to the global effortsaid Chao Qingchen, director of the National Climate Center.
China has been accelerating energy mix adjustments to reduce carbon emissions. Currently, The country has the largest installed capacity in the worldboth in photovoltaic and wind energy.
The Waliguan observatory also witnessed the transition. A large-scale photovoltaic energy generation park has been built in the vicinity of the observatory. Its installed clean energy capacity, including solar, hydroelectric and wind energyhas exceeded 53 million kilowatts.
In addition to local consumption, this park has also transmitted 50 billion kilowatt-hours of green electricity to eastern China, which has led to a reduction of more than 70 million tons of carbon dioxide emissions per year.
“What is being done here in Qinghai is deeply impressive. With solar, wind and hydroelectric energy representing more than 90 percent of total installed capacitythis region has become a benchmark in China’s energy policy,” Christensen said.
Carmichael said: “What we really need to do is find ways to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and we need to do it urgently. Many countries such as China and the United States, as well as United Nations agencies, are working hard to help countries achieve carbon neutrality. and net zero emissions in the coming decades, so we must work hard to achieve this.
FCA
