Photo taken on December 23, 2025 shows youth representatives ascend the Tianshan No. 1 Glacier during an environmental volunteer activity in Urumqi, capital of northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. (Photo offered by Polar Hub)

Faced with the increasingly urgent issue of international glacier conservation, a growing number of young Chinese individuals are taking up responsibility, ascending mountain peaks, setting up observation platforms on glaciers, learning to drill ice cores and using AR (augmented reality) technology to scan and record, and launching drones into the sky... They focus on climate change, taking action to protect glaciers and encouraging youth participation as an active response to global climate governance.

"In the summer of 2026, the icy area you are standing on will disappear," said Wang Feiteng, a research fellow at the Northwest Institute of Eco-Environment and Resources of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, to 13 young companions on December 23, 2025, at the tongue of the Tianshan No. 1 Glacier, which is located at the headwaters of the Urumqi River in Xinjiang. This glacier, the closest to a major city in the world, is retreating at an annual rate of approximately five meters.

The majestic beauty of the glaciers and the irreversible reality of their melting deeply impact the young people who reach the summits. China's third glacier inventory, released in March 2025, shows that around 2020, China's total glacier area was about 46,000 square kilometers, comprising approximately 69,000 individual glaciers. The vast majority of these glaciers are located in remote, high-altitude, low-oxygen areas that are difficult to access.

"To understand what responsibility truly means in a real-world setting." This has become the original intention behind Hu Jiaojiao, founder of Polar Hub, he has also organized over 30 youth scientific exploration activities in recent years. What sets this apart from previous efforts is that this time, these young people are exploring digital technology solutions for glacier protection, hoping that through remote monitoring and other methods, the public far from these glaciers can gain a more tangible understanding of what is happening to them day by day.

Tianshan No. 1 Glacier at a "tipping point"

Only a few dozen glaciers worldwide have continuous observation data spanning over 60 years. Tianshan No. 1 Glacier is one of them, and it is also the glacier with the longest monitoring history and most systematic data records in China.

Photo taken on December 23, 2025 shows youth climb glaciers during an environmental volunteer activity at the Tianshan No. 1 Glacier in Urumqi, capital of northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. (Photo offered by Polar Hub)

In 1959, under the proposal and organization of the renowned glaciologist Shi Yafeng, the Tianshan Glaciological Station (hereinafter referred to as "Tianshan Station") of the Chinese Academy of Sciences was established.

During the intense summer of 2004, Wang Feiteng, then a student, first came to the Tianshan Mountains and was awestruck by the immense glacier — a sight he had never witnessed in his hometown in east China's Shandong Province. Later, he would traverse this glacier countless times, carrying equipment weighing dozens of kilograms.

In December 2025, Fang Hui, born in the 2000s and from the First Institute of Oceanography of the Ministry of Natural Resources, visited Tianshan No. 1 Glacier. He felt that the relationship between glaciers and people is very close. "This area is surrounded by China's two largest deserts, namely the Taklimakan Desert and the Gurbantunggut Desert, yet it still sustains a population of over 4 million in the largest city in Central Asia. It's incredible."

In Fang Hui's view, behind this miracle lies the Tianshan Mountains and its glaciers near Urumqi City. This region is the source of many oasis rivers, such as the Urumqi River, the Ili River, and the Tarim River. These rivers flow from the glaciers, nourishing numerous oases. In ancient times, these oases were famous cities like Jushi, Qiuci, and Shule, linking together the Silk Road, a corridor through the desert. Today, they are cities like Urumqi, Kuqa, and Kashi, forming part of the Belt and Road.

Glaciers are known as the Earth's solid reservoirs. They are particularly precious for the arid regions of northwest China. However, against the backdrop of global warming, glaciers are melting at an unprecedented rate.

According to China's third glacier inventory, between the 1960s and 2020, China's total glacier area decreased by about 26 percent (4.8 percent per decade), with approximately 7,000 small glaciers completely disappearing. From 2008 to 2020, China's total glacier area decreased by about 6 percent (5.2 percent per decade), indicating that China's glaciers have entered a phase of accelerated retreat in the past decade.

"For Xinjiang, especially the Altai area in northern Xinjiang, due to its lower altitude, the glacier retreat rate has already exceeded 30 percent," Wang Feiteng said.

The world shares this reality. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) reports that global warming is leading to a reduction in the cryosphere area, mass loss from ice sheets and glaciers, and rapid decreases in the extent and thickness of snow cover and Arctic sea ice.

Wang Feiteng's observations suggest that Tianshan No. 1 Glacier may already be at a "tipping point." An important indicator of this tipping point is the runoff from glacial meltwater. Since 1959, the runoff from this glacier has shown an upward trend, reaching high-level fluctuations in the last one to two decades.

On one side is the surging demand for water due to urban development, and on the other is the concern over the depletion of glacial meltwater. Regarding this issue, Jiang Zhaoli, former official at the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, looks forward to answers from young scientists. 2025 marks the 10th anniversary of the Paris Agreement. Jiang Zhaoli stated that focusing on climate action and promoting youth participation is our positive response to global climate governance.

Exploring new pathways for digital glacier protection

Through its long-term work, Polar Hub has discovered significant data gaps regarding China's glaciers.

In fact, glaciology is a genuinely "niche" discipline, with very few researchers engaged in this field.

Photo taken on December 23, 2025 shows Wang Feiteng, a research fellow from the Northwest Institute of Eco-Environment and Resources of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, explains the process of ice core drilling to youth at the Tianshan No. 1 Glacier in Urumqi, capital of northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. (Photo offered by Polar Hub)

"We found that many glaciers lack systematic monitoring data in the scientific research field, but in the exploration community, people reach these glaciers every year; some glaciers, as scenic areas, also regularly receive tourists. However, these activities have never formed a cohesive force," Hu Jiaojiao wondered. "Could explorers or tourists help scientists obtain relevant data and support research?"

She explained that the team initially tried to encourage people to use their phones to record and upload pictures of glaciers at places like the Dagu Glacier. By capturing photos from the same angle at different times, they could gather comparative images. Although such actions can partially compensate for data, they fall far short of the requirements for continuous scientific monitoring.

In practice, Polar Hub realized that the lack of unified standards is the biggest obstacle preventing citizen science data from generating scientific research value.

2025 is the International Year of Glacier Protection. Polar Hub launched the "See Glaciers" initiative. Through public fundraising, they successfully established six science monitoring points in key glacier-covered areas in China, including the Tianshan No. 1 Glacier visited by these young people.

On the train leaving Urumqi, these young people received the first photo transmitted from the monitoring station, and everyone marveled, "So cool!"

Glacier monitoring is particularly important for understanding glacier development and disaster monitoring under climate warming. Currently, the six sets of monitoring equipment operate 24/7 unattended and in real-time, with continuous and stable remote data collection and transmission.

Not long ago, the glacier observation guidelines led by Polar Hub have been approved, which will enable the public to record glacial changes in a standardized way and conduct urgent collection of precious glacial data.

Hu Jiaojiao stated that in the future, they will add and refine more monitoring information. More members of the public and partners will join the platform in various forms, and the data will be connected to a platform and shared with glacier scientists across China and the world.

Understanding responsibility in real scenes

"The more majestic you see the glacier is, the more heartbreaking its disappearance feels," said Hu Yang from the Institute of Mountain Hazards and Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences-Ministry of Water Resources, who couldn't help but kiss the pristine ice.

Photo taken on December 23, 2025 shows a monitoring device set at the Tianshan No.1 Glacier in Urumqi City, capital of northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. (Photo by Youth.cn/Zhang Yi)

Shang Xiaotong, a postdoctoral researcher at Sun Yat-sen University, saw in Wang Feiteng the courage and optimism of a scientist.

Wang Feiteng has tried many methods to protect glaciers. The idea of "covering glaciers with blankets" gained widespread attention. This concept originated from an attempt by him in 2016. At that time, while participating in preparations for snow affairs for the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics ski venues, he and his team experimented with covering snow surfaces with insulating and reflective fabric to ensure successful snow storage, and the test results were significant.

Shang Xiaotong deeply understands that environmental protection work is insufficient with only the participation of scientists. "Just as biologist Jane Goodall said, 'Only if we understand, can we care; only if we care, will we help; only if we help, shall all be saved.' Letting more people understand is when real change can happen."

Two esports players and one game commentator also joined this activity. As an esports commentator for Tencent Games, Hou Chen said, "Through the microphone, I want to narrate the fragile majesty and importance of the glacier before me, conveying the belief in protection to more young people in front of the screens. On the real battlefield of glacier protection, we guard our homeland together."

The young people returning from the glacier carry more hope and responsibility. Fang Hui said, "The purpose of each climb and each exploration is different now. We are no longer seeking conquest, but more for understanding and action."

(Source: Youth.cn, Reporter Zhang Yi)