Association of Polar Early Career Scientists

 

APECS ChinaPartner shipping with China Association for Scientific Expedition and the China Association of Polar Early Career Scientists (APECS China) and the Institute of International Rivers and Eco-Security, Yunnan University, Polar Hub launch its very first Glacier Memory Exhibition on Dec. 18th, 2021 at the Indigo shopping mall to celebrate the success of ice core drilling in November, 2021 in Tibet. From the perspectives of natural science and exploration, Glacier Memory showcases how the cryosphere interacts with the atmosphere, the ocean, and land as an indispensable unit of the climate system.

Made of the four parts—the Frozen World, the Glacier Memory, the Glacier Amnesia and Climate Action, Glacier Memory Exhibition is comprised of photographic works from renowned photographers, scientists, glacier-lovers and footage from the Tibetan glacier scientific research. We hope that with the magnificent scene and life in the cryosphere, our audience will feel and breathe with the mysterious Arctic, the Antarctica and the Tibetan Plateau, and that the cruciality and frailty of the three poles on Earth will be well-communicated.

470 Minghu Ding APECS China Exhibition 2021A Peek into Glacier Research

Glacier Memory brings to the audience the vast polar ice caps, the magical seracs, the colorful polar lights, and everyone's favorite creatures such as polar bears, penguins, and snow leopards. In addition, what makes this exhibition so special is that it introduces how scientific research is conducted by cryosphere scientists in the polar regions, from the Tibetan Plateau to the north and south poles of the Earth, from Academician Qin Dahe’s cross-Antarctic trip in 1990 to young scientific explorer Wen Xu’s journey through the three poles of the Earth in 2020, from the grand cryosphere landscape to the microscopic ice core microbes, from the ancient ice cores to the sustainable future development, the exhibition is set on a huge time and space scale to explore the frozen world that teems with life.


Immersive Research Experience

On the LED MESH of the exhibition screens the footage from the Tibetan glacier research in November 2021 where the Glacier Memory scientific expedition team successfully drilled out ice cores. With the intensification of climate change, there are more melting areas in the glacier. In a few decades there might be no glaciers in the Tibetan Plateau, which makes this scientific expedition a rescue mission.

On alpine glaciers and ice sheets, the material in the atmosphere settles on the surface of the glacier and become denser under the squeeze of the annual snowfall. Therefore, the lower layer of ice is older than the upper layer, and has a significant stratum structure, like the annual rings of a tree. An ice core is a core taken from the inside of the glacier, generally in the shape of a vertical column. Ice core is a climate history book. It has enormous value for scientific research, human history changes, atmospheric changes and environmental protection.471 Minghu Ding APECS China Exhibition 2021


Saving the Glaciers

In the backdrop of global warming, all glaciers on the planet are dying. China's glaciers have reduced by 15% in the past 50 years. In the future, this number may be even greater. For the rest of our lives, we will witness countless glaciers, sea ice, frozen soil, and snow vanish from the earth. If no concrete climate action is taken, the glacier will only exist in our memory and will eventually become a scar on the Earth.

The melting of glaciers concerns everybody. Low-carbon life and green development will help achieve the goal of carbon-neutrality. Our actions are creating an opportunity to change the future.


Photos by Minghu Ding

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