China opened its first air-sea interaction and climate change
laboratory in Qingdao, Shandong Province, to closely observe
climate change on the sea and to provide scientific solutions.
The newly-built lab in the eastern coastal province, funded and
run by the State Oceanic Administration (SOA) First Institute of
Oceanography (FIO), would conduct research on climate influencing
phenomena of mass, energy, momentum and radiation fluxes across the
sea, FIO head Ma Deyi said in the China Ocean News on Thursday.
The lab's research topics mainly included the study of
concentration of size distribution of marine aerosol in the
boundary layer over the sea surface and in the coastal zone. It
would also study atmospheric optical depth over coastal zones and
open sea, and modeling of the light field in the atmosphere and
ocean, Ma said.
The lab would also act as a nerve center for an underway oceanic
monitoring network. This was expected to be completed next year for
observing climate change in the Bohai Sea, the South China Sea and
sea areas, said vice SOA chief Wang Fei.
"We'll strengthen our capability in forecasting weather and
analyzing air-sea interactions in deep seas," he said.
The UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) issued a
new report on the phenomenon earlier this year. It warned the
world's average temperature, if left unchecked, could rise by as
much as two to four degrees centigrade by 2080. This would probably
trigger more natural disasters endangering human beings.
Representatives from 180 countries convened earlier this month
in Bali, Indonesia, agreeing on a clear agenda for the key climate
change issues to be negotiated up to 2009. These included actions
for adapting to the negative consequences of climate change,
methods to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, methods to deploy
climate-friendly technologies and financing both adaptation and
mitigation measures.
Sea-weather observation and air-sea interactions analysis were
effective in monitoring global climate change.
World-leading organizations, such as the National Aeronautics
and Space Administration, and top universities, including
Massachusetts Institute of Technology and California Institute of
Technology, have already focused on air-sea interaction to know
more about climate change.
(Xinhua News Agency December 28, 2007)
