Xinhua News Agency, Shanghai, July 18 (Reporter Zhang Jiansong, Yu Qiongyuan) Reporters learned from the Polar Research Center of China held a press conference on the 18th that China will launch the 8th Arctic scientific expedition on July 20, the "Snow dragon" will be the first round of the Arctic Ocean voyage, and will be the first test of the Northwest Passage.

According to deputy director of China Polar Research Center, China's 8th Arctic scientific expedition team leader, chief scientist Xu Ren introduction, China's 8th Arctic scientific expedition is an important expedition activities during the 13th Five-Year Plan period, the expedition team of 96 people, the total voyage of the expedition is expected to be more than 19,000 nautical miles, a total of 83 days, planned to return to the port of Shanghai on October 10.

The expedition, with the "Snow Dragon" polar scientific research ship as the platform, will carry out a comprehensive survey of the Arctic shipping route, Marine biodiversity, Marine hydrology, Marine chemistry, Marine geology, Marine microplastics and Marine garbage and other pollutants survey. Operational surveys will be carried out in key sea areas such as the Bering Sea, Chukchi Sea, Nordic Sea, Northwest Passage and high Arctic latitudes.

The Arctic is the most sensitive region in the world to climate change. In recent years, the extensive melting of Arctic sea ice has aroused great concern among scientists around the world. As a country in the northern hemisphere, it is of great importance for China to conduct in-depth research on Arctic climate change. Since 1999, China has carried out seven scientific expeditions to the Arctic.

On the basis of these seven Arctic scientific expeditions and relying on the national major project "Snow Dragon Exploration", China's eighth Arctic scientific expedition will carry out the Arctic operational observation mission for the first time, aiming to establish a long-term observation section, carry out systematic expeditions in the future, and promote the long-term operational observation and monitoring of the Arctic environment.

The 8th Arctic Expedition will also strengthen research on frontier scientific issues such as ocean acidification in the Arctic Ocean, carry out multi-sea Arctic biodiversity surveys, and for the first time carry out surveys on emerging Marine pollutants such as microplastics, expand China's microplastics monitoring to subArctic and Arctic waters, and promote China's Marine microplastics monitoring into the global Marine microplastic waste monitoring. It will strengthen international governance.

Since the 16th century, European navigators have dreamed of an easy passage from the Arctic Ocean to the rich East. Now, with the melting of Arctic sea ice, the opening of the Arctic shipping route has become a reality. The Arctic Passage consists of the Northeast Passage, the Northwest Passage and the Central Passage, which crosses the North Pole.

In 2012, during China's fifth scientific expedition to the Arctic, the "Snow Dragon" successfully crossed the Northeast Passage along the Russian coast in the Arctic Ocean for the first time, making preliminary explorations for Chinese ships such as the "Yongsheng" to open commercial routes. In the eighth Arctic scientific expedition this year, Xue Long will sail around the Arctic Ocean for the first time, and make its first trial voyage along the Northwest Passage along the Canadian coast in the Arctic Ocean. Compared with the Northeast Passage, the Northwest Passage has heavier ice conditions, according to Shen Quan, captain of the Snow Dragon at the Polar Research Center of China and deputy leader of China's eighth Arctic scientific expedition. After crossing the Bering Strait and entering the Arctic Ocean, the Xue Long will sail in a clockwise direction. It will first cross the Northeast Passage and enter the Nordic Sea; Then from Baffin Bay, enter the Northwest Passage trial; And then back to the Bering Strait to complete the first circumnavigation of the Arctic Ocean.

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