China announced its first atmospheric monitoring station in Antarctica and started operations this week, a move that aimed at helping observe changes on the southern continent and supporting the global response to climate change.
In order to investigate polar resources China like the US has been increasing its presence in the Arctic and Antarctica.
The Zhongshan National Atmospheric Background Station will conduct “continuous and long term operational observations of concentration changes in Antarctic atmospheric components,” the official Xinhua news agency quoted China’s Meteorological Administration as saying.
The station is situated in East Antarctica’s Larsmann Hills.
According to Ding Minghu, director of the Chinese Academy of Meteorological Science’s Institute of Global Change and Polar Meteorology, polar regions are “amplifiers” of the global climate shift.
He said that the observation data from the station will have “unique geographical advantages and scientific value” that would help researchers better understand how human activity affects the environment.
The Ross Sea scientific research outpost in Antarctica was inaugurated by China in February. Five additional research stations were constructed in Antarctica between 1985 and 2014.
Between 2007 and 2008, the International Council for Science and the World Meteorological Organization organized the fourth International Polar Year, a significant scientific effort centered on the Arctic and Antarctic which laid the foundation for atmospheric observation at Zhongshan Station.
In order to provide continuous, high resolution measurements of carbon dioxide and methane, China installed a high precision greenhouse gas monitoring system at the station by 2010. China became the third nation in the world to be able to carry out such operations in Antarctica as a result.
