Climate and Environmental Change in China: 1951–2012

Qin Dahe, a geographer, was born in January 1947. He is an academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and an academician of the Third World Academy of Sciences. He graduated from the Department of Geography of Lanzhou University in 1970. From then on he engaged to cryosphere science and climate change studies. He has published over 300 papers and books. He systematically studied the physical processes within the Antarctic ice sheet surface snow and the records of climate and environment. Dr. Qin set up the State Key Laboratory on Cryospheric Science in China. He advocated the concept of cryosphere science, and built the framework of cryospheric science from the aspect of interaction between cryosphere and other spheres and the adaptive strategies of cryospheric changes. He involved the third, and leaded the fourth and fifth IPCC scientific assessments, particularly the physical science basis of climate change, which made great contributions to a deeper sight into climate change science. As the administrator of China Meteorology Administration, he hosted the Strategy of Chinese Meteorological Service and Development, putting forward the three strategies: public, security and resources oriented meteorology. He is the pioneer in opening the door of science data sharing in China. IPCC undertaking he involved gain him a 2007 Nobel Peace Prize, and Dr. Qin got the International Meteorological Organization Prize, elected Honory member of American Meteorology Society (AMS), bestPaper Award granted by National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration of US, and 2013 Volvo Environmental Prize.