In an effort to monitor changes in Antarctica and strengthen the global response to climate change, China announced this week that its first atmospheric monitoring station in Antarctica began operations.
China, like the United States, seeks to enhance its presence in Antarctica and the Arctic to explore natural resources in the poles.
The Xinhua News Agency reported that the Chinese Meteorological Administration stated that the Zhongshan National Atmospheric Background Station will conduct "continuous and long-term operational observations of changes in the concentration of atmospheric components in Antarctica."
The station is located in the Larsemann Hills area in East Antarctica.
Ding Minghu, director of the Institute of Global Change and Polar Meteorology at the Chinese Academy of Meteorological Sciences, said that polar regions act as "amplifiers" of global climate change.
He added that the monitoring data collected by the station would have "unique geographical advantages and scientific value" and would contribute to studying the impact of human activities on the environment.
In February, China opened a scientific research station in the Ross Sea region of Antarctica. China also built five other research stations in Antarctica between 1985 and 2014.
According to the latest study on the impact of climate change on the continent, sea ice in Antarctica has reached a record low in 2023. Rising global temperatures caused the massive ice mass to decline, and there is currently no quick solution to reverse the damage that has been done.
The study indicated a decrease in the minimum summer ice cover on the continent, which fell to less than two million square kilometers (772,000 square miles) for the first time since satellite monitoring began in 1978, reaching a new low last year.
Some climate scientists have adopted pessimistic forecasts regarding the impact of the rapidly melting Antarctic ice, which include the collapse of ice shelves, a decrease in sea ice, and the loss of a significant portion of this natural freshwater reservoir on the planet.
Anna Hoag, a professor at the University of Leeds and one of the study's co-authors, stated regarding the melting of ice layers in the journal "Frontiers," "It will definitely take a long time, even if it is possible."
The study confirms that the burning of fossil fuels has caused global warming, making Antarctica more susceptible to extreme events, and the impact is "almost certain" to worsen.
Climate change will lead to an increase in the size and frequency of heatwaves, the collapse of ice shelves, and a decrease in sea ice, based on recent evidence from scientific studies of the Southern Ocean, the atmosphere, the cryosphere, and the biosphere.
