Scientific study drives law to protect ecology of Qinghai-Tibet Plateau

The second Qinghai-Tibet scientific expedition has become a driving force behind ecological protection legislation on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, academicians said at a news conference in Lhasa, capital of the Xizang autonomous region, on Wednesday.

The top 10 application achievements of the expedition were released at the event, covering ecological conservation, disaster prevention, resource exploration, carbon accounting, traffic safety and development in border areas.

Yao Tandong, an academician with the Chinese Academy of Sciences, said a series of core legislative recommendations proposed by the expedition team — including strengthening glacier change monitoring, enhancing glacier disaster monitoring and early warning, protecting ecological barriers and the Asian Water Tower, and promoting integrated protection, restoration and management of mountains, rivers, forests, farmlands, lakes, grasslands, deserts and glaciers — were incorporated into the legislation.

As a result, in March, the 15th meeting of the Standing Committee of the 12th People's Congress of Xizang adopted the "Measures for the Implementation of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau Ecological Protection Law", which took effect on Aug 1.

Beyond legislation, the expedition has also deepened scientific understanding of ecological challenges unique to the plateau. One of the most critical findings concerns the Asian Water Tower, a key water source for more than 2 billion people in China and downstream regions.

Research led by Yao shows a significant increase in water supply capacity. Runoff from major basins has steadily grown over the past four decades, with projections indicating a further 49 percent rise by the end of the century.

Yao said the resource is increasingly threatened by cryosphere disasters, including glacier avalanches and glacial lake outburst floods, which have risen in both frequency and severity. Between 1981 and 2020, incidents of glacial lake outburst floods increased from 1.5 annually to 2.7 between 2001 and the 2020s. He said the risk of glacier avalanches and glacial lake outburst floods is expected to triple, threatening about 1,000 kilometers of roads and 500 settlements.

In response, the expedition team has set up a comprehensive Earthsystem multisphere observation platform to enable real-time monitoring of the atmosphere, glaciers and runoff in the Sanjiangyuan area and Yarlung Zangbo River basin.

The team has also developed an intelligent monitoring and early warning system for cryosphere-related chain disasters, such as glacier avalanches that block the Yarlung Zangbo River and glacial lake outburst floods in Nyalam county of Xizang.

"This system provides precise disaster prevention and mitigation solutions for the siting, operation and maintenance of major projects, as well as for helping residents avoid risks," Yao said.