The Third Pole refers to the unique high-mountain region centered on the Tibetan Plateau. It stretches west to the Pamir-Hindu Kush region, east to the Hengduan Mountains, north to the Kunlun and Qilian mountains, and south to the Himalayas, encompassing over 5 million square kilometers with an average elevation of over 4,000 meters above sea level. The region stores more snow and ice than anywhere else in the world outside the Arctic and Antarctic, thus its name, the “Third Pole.” The uniqueness of the region qualifies it as an ecological buffer.
The unique cryospheric (i.e., involving frozen water) processes at the Third Pole makes it particularly sensitive to global environmental changes.
For this reason, slight changes in climate can result in large-scale melting of glaciers, permafrost and snow cover at the Third Pole, thus altering the land-surface energy balance and water cycle in the region and beyond.
Since many major Asian rivers originate from Third Pole glaciers, the Third Pole sustains the life of almost one-fifth of the world’s population. As a result, any environmental changes affecting the Third Pole – also known as the “Water Tower of Asia” – can be felt in over 10 countries due to these rivers.
Now that climate change influences the region’s vast reservoir of ice and snow, the local community’s economic, social and ecological well-being is threatened.
The melting of glaciers
The CO2 and CH4 released by melting permafrost intensify the greenhouse effect and threaten the delicate ecological balance at the Third Pole.
It is difficult to achieve ecological balance in the harsh environment of the Third Pole, and even more difficult to sustain it. Warming-induced glacial retreat and melt water, for example, can flood grasslands used for animal husbandry and trigger geological hazards.
Left: Image of the collapse of the No. 53 glacier by China’s high-resolution satellite Gaofen-2
Right: Image of the collapse of the No. 50 glacier by China’s high-resolution satellite Gaofen-2.
Therefore, it makes scientific, social as well as economic sense to investigate the continuing interplay of atmosphere, lithosphere, cryosphere, hydrosphere, biosphere and anthroposphere at the Third Pole, since it shapes both the physical and cultural environment of the region. Studies also show that the Third Pole plays a strong role in shaping the global environment.
What is the Third Pole Environment (TPE)?
The Third Pole Environment (TPE) is an international program for the interdisciplinary study of the relationships among water, ice, air, ecology and humankind in the Third Pole region and beyond. It was initiated in 2009 by three world-renowned scientists, Professors YAO Tandong, Lonnie G. Thompson and Volker Mosbrugger. TPE has since developed a series of productive workshops, research and observation networks as well as training courses for young scientists. TPE has been endorsed by UNESCO as its flagship program and is in close partnership with UNEP and WMO.
