In the Bailang River glacier area of Qilian Mountains in western China, Kang Shichang research team from the Chinese Academy of Sciences, together with Gansu Meteorological Bureau, successfully carried out two three-dimensional operations of artificial snow enhancement using smoke stoves, rockets and aircraft, trying to slow the melting of glaciers and improve the supply of snow and ice materials through this measure, so as to effectively protect glaciers. Glaciers are an important component of Earth's freshwater resources, providing drinking water and irrigation sources for billions of people worldwide. They play an irreplaceable role in regulating global climate and maintaining biodiversity. Du Wentao, a member of the research team and deputy director of the Cryosphere and Global Change Research Office of the Northwest Institute of Ecological Environment and Resources of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, introduced that by carrying out artificial snow enhancement operations in the spring of high mountain areas, it can not only increase the supply of glacier materials, but also improve the albedo of glacier surface, reduce the absorption of solar radiation, and slow down the intensity of glacier melting, so that Enze hydrology, ecology, agriculture and other fields can protect glaciers at a larger watershed scale or mountain scale. With climate change, glaciers around the world are melting at an alarming rate. The latest research published in the British journal Nature shows that between 2000 and 2023, global glacier mass decreased by about 5%, to approximately 6.542 trillion tons. Meanwhile, glacier melting continues to accelerate. In 2023 alone, the global reduction of glacier material may even reach 548 billion tons. The third Chinese glacier inventory released by the Northwest Institute of Ecological Environment and Resources of the Chinese Academy of Sciences in March shows that China's latest glacier area is about 46000 square kilometers, and the total number of glaciers is about 69000. Compared with the second China Glacier Inventory, the overall glacier area in China decreased by about 6% between 2008 and 2020. The melting of glaciers has far-reaching impacts, not only threatening the global ecosystem, but also posing challenges to the sustainable development of human society. Kang Shichang, head of the research team and director of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Chengdu Institute of Mountain Disasters and Environment of the Ministry of Water Resources, said that melting glaciers would lead to a water crisis, which would directly lead to sea level rise. In addition, the continuous melting of glaciers can lead to their own instability, making them more sensitive to external influences and exacerbating the frequency and intensity of glacier disasters and their secondary disaster chains. Nowadays, scientific protection of glaciers and strengthening glacier research have become a consensus among the government, academia, and the public. Covering with new materials is currently a measure applied in glacier protection. In the Dagu Glacier in Heishui County, Aba Tibetan and Qiang Autonomous Prefecture, Sichuan Province, and the No.1 Glacier at the source of the Urumqi River in Tianshan Mountains, Xinjiang, a Chinese research team has used different materials such as specially designed geotextiles and nanomaterials to "cover" the glaciers and help them "reduce fever". This measure has also been applied in some glacier tourism destinations in Europe. Lis Marie Andreassen, President of the International Society for Cryospheric Sciences, believes that glaciers around the world are experiencing continuous shrinkage, and hopes that more new measures can be taken to actively address global climate change, regulate human activities reasonably, and scientifically and efficiently protect glaciers. She called for effective response to glacier melting through scientific monitoring and international cooperation. As a strategic resource for maintaining the ecological security of the Earth, glaciers' non renewability and strong melting have triggered chain reactions such as glacier disasters, water resource crises, and ecological imbalances, which are accelerating the transformation of international consensus on glacier protection from scientific warning to policy action. The United Nations General Assembly passed a resolution in 2022 declaring 2025 as the International Year of Glacier Conservation and designating March 21 of each year as World Glacier Day, aiming to raise awareness of the important role of glaciers in the climate system and hydrological cycle, as well as the impact of rapid glacier melting. In August 2024, the United Nations General Assembly passed a resolution declaring the period from 2025 to 2034 as the "Decade of Action for Cryosphere Science", committed to advancing the entire chain from monitoring changes in the cryosphere, standardizing and sharing data, to addressing protection. Du Wentao told reporters that under the current greenhouse gas emissions, artificial snow augmentation can effectively protect glaciers. This year, the research team will also strengthen cooperation with the meteorological department, optimize the three-dimensional operation plan for artificial snow enhancement in high mountain areas, strive to improve the protection effect, and expand the protection scope; At the same time, actively introducing new methods and continuously conducting research on glacier monitoring to obtain more accurate data, laying the foundation for scientific protection. In the view of experts such as Kang Shichang, the ongoing efforts to save glaciers reflect people's attention and care for them. However, the most effective way to prevent glacier melting is to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. According to the commitments made by the parties to the 2015 Paris Agreement, the global average temperature rise is limited to 1.5 degrees Celsius. Protecting glaciers is a long and arduous task, and we are racing against time. ”Kang Shichang said. (New Society)