The First Asian Conference on Permafrost.

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ABSTRACTIntellectual Merit: Permafrost in Asian mountain regions, especially on the Qinghai-TibetanPlateau, is extremely sensitive to environmental change since the majority of permafrost iswithin several degrees below the freezing point. Global and regional climate models predict thatmean annual air temperature on the Tibetan Plateau will increase 2 to 3oC by the mid of the 21stcentury. Construction of the Qinghai-Xizang (Tibet) Railroad, the biggest project in permafrostregion since the Trans-Alaskan Pipeline in the 1970s, and future railroad operations will haveimpacts on surficial processes and permafrost environments. Climatic warming and railroadconstruction will accelerate the thawing and degrading of permafrost over the region. Permafrostscientists and engineers are now facing these new challenges on the response of permafrost torapidly changing environments. The 1st Asian Conference on Permafrost will bring scientists,engineers, policy makers together, especially young scientists and graduate students, (i) toenhance communication within the national and international scientific community on theachievements and progress of the Asian permafrost studies in the past few decades (ii) to identifyand recommend critical areas that need further study in the next decade, and (iii) expand theinternational collaborations on permafrost studies over this Asian mountainous region of China,Kazakhstan, Mongolia and southern Russia.Broader Impacts: Conference themes addressed include: Permafrost engineering, properties offrozen soils, model development, and their applications; Permafrost hazards and periglacialenvironments in mountain/plateau regions; Climatic and environmental and cryospheric changes;Permafrost hydrology and cold regions water resources and land use; and Monitoring, mappingand modeling of mountain and high-elevation permafrost. These topics relate to consequences ofa warming Earth and the many societal issues in the high latitude and high mountain regions ofplanet Earth. The Arctic Climate Impact Assessment (ACIA) report in 2004 renewed concernsthat enhanced thawing or degradation of permafrost has had major impacts on infrastructure andlocal communities. The outcome of the conference will contribute to the bipolar environmentaland engineering knowledge and to the assessment of recent changes in the landmass andterrestrial ecosystems. Experience gained by young researchers will contribute to their academicand professional development.