XINING, Sept. 30 (Xinhua) -- Extreme weather is worsening around the globe -- Super Typhoon Yagi this month raged in south China and Vietnam, killing people and wreaking havoc; devastating floods slammed Bangladesh; Europe has just experienced its hottest summer on record.
The rise of extreme weather events has highlighted the urgency to understand and raise awareness of global climate change.
With the International Workshop on Greenhouse Gases and Climate Change convening in northwest China's Qinghai Province earlier this month, atmospheric background observatories' role in understanding climate change was thrust into the spotlight. The workshop also served as a gathering to mark 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, went into operation in 1994. It is by far the world's highest global atmospheric background observatory, and China's only global observatory, apart from seven regional atmospheric background observatories the country has already put into place.
Atmospheric background observation refers to long-haul, fixed-point observation of thoroughly mixed atmospheric components free of local contamination, in areas far away from human activities. Data generated from such observations are more likely to reveal the true atmospheric conditions and composition.
TRACKING CLIMATE CHANGE
The 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 exerting impact on regional and global climate change.
Its existence also prevents desertification in eastern and southern Asia, unlike what is observed in regions such as North Africa and Central Asia.
On Sept. 17, 1994, the Waliguan Baseline Observatory was inaugurated at the top of Mt. Waliguan on Qinghai-Xizang Plateau. Prior to that, China, the United States, and the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) had held talks and signed a cooperation deal for establishing an atmospheric background observatory in west China.
"I was spending part of my sabbatical at WMO helping the Global Atmosphere Watch Programme (GAW) with several projects at the time when Mt. Waliguan was being planned and established as a global station," recounted Gregory R. Carmichael, chair of scientific steering committee of the GAW, rejoicing at the opportunity to visit Mt. Waliguan 30 years later.
"Mt. Waliguan is an especially important site as it is able to monitor changes in atmospheric composition all around Asia," he added.
Michael S. Christensen, Ambassador of Denmark to China, noted that providing data to Chinese and international organizations for three decades from the world's highest station for monitoring ozone and greenhouse gases "is no small achievement."
At Waliguan observatory, researchers have mapped a "carbon dioxide curve," also known as the "Waliguan curve," drawn from monitoring data of carbon dioxide concentration from the observatory spanning three decades.
The observation data from the Waliguan observatory have provided important reference to all the six assessment reports released by the United Nations' Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), according to Zhang Peng, director-general of the Meteorological Observation Center of the China Meteorological Administration (CMA).
The carbon dioxide curves, drawn with observation 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 change, Zhang added.
Unfortunately, the "Waliguan curve" has seen an upward swing throughout the past three decades, with the atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration surging to 419.3 ppm in 2022.
Paolo Laj, head of the GAW at the WMO, said, without strong efforts from all countries to reduce emissions, global temperatures will rise by 1.5 degrees Celcius, which will be "extremely problematic" for many societies.
"We see this composition (of the atmosphere) changing, in particular the composition of CO2 and of the greenhouse gases increasing. This is how we know that so far we haven't done enough, and in particular the most developed countries haven't done enough in reducing their emissions," Laj added.
TACKLING CLIMATE CHANGE
China has always been an active participant in tackling climate change, particularly in the past decade or so. Through concrete actions, China has contributed its own best practices and wisdom to the global effort, said Chao Qingchen, director of the National Climate Center.
China has been accelerating energy mix adjustments to reduce carbon emissions. The country now boasts the world's highest installed capacity in both photovoltaics and wind power.
The Waliguan observatory also stood as witness to the transition. A photovoltaic power generation park at scale has been built in the vicinity of the observatory. Its installed capacity of clean energies, including solar energy, hydropower and wind power, has surpassed 53 million kilowatts.
In addition to local consumption, this park has also transmitted 50 billion kilowatt-hours of green electricity to eastern China, leading to a reduction of over 70 million tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions annually.
"What is being done here in Qinghai is deeply impressive. With solar, wind and hydropower accounting for over 90 percent of the total installed capacity, this region has become a leading light in China's energy policy," said Christensen.
Carmichael said, "What we really need to do is finding ways to decrease the emissions of greenhouse gases and we have to do that with some urgency. So many countries like China and the United States as well as the United Nations agencies are working hard to help countries reach carbon neutrality and net-zero emissions over the next several decades, and so we need to work hard for that."
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