More than 100 glacier experts and meteorologists from home and abroad flocked to Lanzhou, capital of Gansu Province, recently for an academic meeting held by the International Glaciological Society. Participants at the meeting pointed out the recent 100 years are a highest temperature period in the past 1,000 years.

Experts pointed out that the global warming and the increase of greenhouse gas effect have exerted impact on the natural ecosystems in many areas of the world, such as raising of sea surface, glacial recession, frozen soil melting and late freezing and early melting of rivers and lakes. Due to limited adaptability, it is easy for natural ecosystem to suffer serious or irreparable damages.

Participants came from more than 10 countries and regions, including the United States, France, Canada, Britain, Russian and China. Qin Dahe, former president of the International Glaciological Society, the present president of the International Glaciological Society and academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and director of the China Meteorological Administration, attended the meeting and delivered an academic report.

Some scholars expounded at the meeting that there are many factors causing climate changes. To sum up, they are composed of two categories of influence: natural climate fluctuations and human activities. The former includes changes of sun radiation and volcanic eruptions while the latter is consisted of fuels, such as coal and petroleum, used by man.

Experts said judging from on-going researches, some extreme events closely linked with global warming, such as El Nino and drought, are likely to occur more frequently and intensively, causing aggravated natural ecosystem damages.

In addition, experts held a seminar on the latest research progress of the glaciers at the world's third pole - the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, the study of the glaciers' microorganism, the glaciers at the south and north poles and the recorded glacier temperatures.

By People's Daily Online