A Chinese scientific expedition left Beijing Tuesday morning for
the North Pole to build the nation's first research station in
Norway's Svalbad Islands within the Arctic Circle.
The 17-member team of scientists and journalists is expected to
conduct a 20-day research project in the North Pole area and build
the China Yilite-Morning Arctic Scientific Expedition and Research
Station there.
At
the conclusion of the three-year project, the longest of its kind
made by China, the new, advanced research station will provide
Chinese scientists with accommodation and continuous monitoring and
communication capabilities, said Gao Dengyi, the team leader and a
scientist on atmospheric physics from the Chinese
Academy of Sciences (CAS).
Scientists will conduct thorough research on the region's climate,
environment and resources. They will also accumulate experience and
prepare themselves for the future construction of a permanent
scientific research station.
As
the Arctic region is one of the world's most sensitive areas to the
global climate and environmental change, a long-term scientific
study of the area's weather, environment, resources and biology is
important, Gao said.
After a brief stay in the Norwegian city of Troms, also within the
Arctic Circle, the group will arrive in the Svalbad Islands
Wednesday and start their construction work there.
Being the closest polar region to China, the Arctic has long been
viewed by Chinese scientists as crucial to the country's
development.
Ye
Du, a scientist on aerology from the CAS, said that the vortex flow
change of the region may have a strong influence on the winter
weather in northern China. Likewise, the damage of the ozone may
seriously impose impact on China's climate.
The study of the North Pole, regarded by the world's leading
academics to be the "science of the future,'' can help mankind gain
a better understanding of the earth and outer space.
Global organizations like the United Nations, the Intergovernmental
Committee on Climate Change and the International Research
Committee of the Arctic, have all labeled the scientific study on
the Arctic as the world's priority.
(China
Daily 10/16/2001)