China's second Qinghai-Xizang Plateau scientific expedition has yielded significant practical outcomes, with its top 10 application achievements officially released on Wednesday in Lhasa, capital of southwest China's Xizang Autonomous Region.

Led by Yao Tandong, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the achievements span critical areas including ecological conservation, disaster prevention, resource exploration, carbon accounting, traffic safety and border area development.

Notable results include scientific support for legislation on plateau ecological protection, establishment of a platform for Earth observation and early warning, and innovative technologies for disaster prevention and control in permafrost regions, aiding major infrastructure projects like the Sichuan-Xizang Railway and expressways.

Yao noted, China's second Qinghai-Xizang Plateau scientific expedition has revealed that the plateau has undergone three environmental transformations.This marks the first time Chinese scientists have proposed the concept of a "third environmental transition" on the plateau. Driven by tectonic overturning and differential uplift, which pushed the monsoon northward and transported warm, moist maritime air, the first environmental transformation commenced. The uplift of the northern plateau and the formation of the modern Qinghai-Xizang Plateau established the pattern of cold-drying conditions and the dynamic linkage between an interconnected climate pattern of the three poles, which involves the Antarctica, the Arctic and the Qinghai-Xizang Plateau, catalyzing the second environmental transformation.

Global change and human activities are causing the warming, humidification and vegetation expansion of the plateau, driving the third environmental transformation.

The plateau is currently exhibiting a trend of warming, wetting and "greening" that amplifies both regional and global climate impacts, Yao noted. It was also found that the water supply capacity of the "Asian Water Tower" has significantly risen, with runoff projections showing increases of up to 49 percent by the end of the century, crucial for water security for billions.

An interconnected climate pattern of the three poles, which involves the Antarctica, the Arctic and the Qinghai-Xizang Plateau, represents a new driver for future earth system science research. By examining the Qinghai-Xizang Plateau's central role in global change from multiple dimensions such as geology, climate, ecological environments, and even oceanic shifts, this research will provide new momentum for addressing major global scientific challenges.