Shanghai Science Communication Forum and "Meet @ Scientists" Focused on the Three Poles of the Earth and Glaciers

The year 2025 is the International Year of Glaciers' Protection. March 21 marks not only World Day for Glaciers, but also the birthday anniversary of Shi Yafeng, founder of glaciology in China, founder of permafrost science and debris flow research in China, and academician of Chinese Academy of Sciences. In order to commemorate Academician Shi Yafeng's scientific contribution and popularize glacier science, Shanghai Science & Technology Museum, together with Shanghai Science & Education Development Foundation and CITIC Pacific Properties, held the 222nd session of Shanghai Science Communication Forum and a special event of "Meet @ Scientist — Tribute to Academician Shi Yafeng" on March 29 to learn and carry forward Academician Shi Yafeng's outstanding achievements in scientific research, rigorous and realistic academic attitude and selfless dedication to science, while arousing public awareness of the critical role of glaciers in the climate system and water cycle.

On the summit of the Antarctic ice cap, the Arctic ice floes, the glaciers of the Tibetan Plateau, and the Arctic permafrost, Chinese scientists are measuring the earth's extreme cold areas with their feet and decoding the climate change with technology. Researcher Li Yuansheng, the first Director of China's Antarctic Kunlun Station and former Deputy Director of Polar Research Institute of China, introduced his magnificent journey with the members of the scientific research team to establish China's Antarctic Kunlun Station at Dome A, the highest point of the Antarctic ice sheet at an altitude of 4,093 meters. In this extremely cold place with an average annual temperature of -58.4℃, they started the scientific project of deep ice core drilling. These 800,000-year-old deep ice cores are known as "time capsules" that record Earth's history and serve as a key to understanding the evolution of Earth's climate.

The glaciers on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau were also mentioned during the event, as they not only breed ten major water systems in Asia (including Yangtze River and Yellow River) and safeguard the fresh water of 2 billion people in the region, but also serve as sensitive indicators of global climate change and record the environmental evolution of the third pole.