The first investigation, conducted over 40 years ago by China, covered over 50 subjects such as agriculture, botany, geophysics, geology, and zoology
China is all set to undertake a 'large-scale survey' of the 4,000-metre-high Qinghai-Tibet plateau, also known as the roof of the world, to study changes in its resources, ecology, and environment, media houses in Beijing reported on Monday. This will be the first time in 40 years that a project of this scale will be undertaken.
The survey will be launched jointly by the government of Tibet Autonomous Region and Chinese Academy of Sciences. The project begins in June.
Scientists intend to investigate changes in resources, ecology, and the environment on the plateau. Their findings will be used to provide scientific support for environmental protection and economic and social development in Tibet, state-run Xinhua news agency has reported.
The first investigation was conducted in the 1970s, and covered over 50 subjects such as agriculture, botany, geophysics, geology, and zoology.
New technologies, including drones and satellites, will be employed to capture more comprehensive and accurate scientific data.
The Qinghai-Tibet Plateau has always attracted the attention of the scientific community, and several studies have been undertaken in the region.
In 2012, scientists from Key Laboratory of Desert and Desertification, Cold and Arid Regions Environmental and Engineering Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Sciences studied how the sand layer plays a key role in protecting underlying permafrost in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau.
In 2011, a study by the US Geological Survey, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation, and the Chinese Academy of Sciences camped on the plateau to uncover an unknown link in Tibet among wild birds, poultry and the movement of the highly pathogenic avian influenza H5N1 virus.
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