From March to June, 2005, Chinese scientists will carry out a large-scale scientific expedition to Mt Everest. During this expedition, scientific staff will conduct various multi-disciplinary studies including atmosphere, glaciology, ecology and geology of the region. Mapping staff also tend to re-measure the altitude of Mt Everest. Tripartite group consisting of CAS, National Mapping Agency and Tibet Autonomous region released this news on March 9^th, 2005.

 The scientific expedition—study of interrelationship between environmental change and ecosystem on the Plateau during Holocene—will be the largest one in the past thirty years, with 36 crews in five groups. Prof. Kang Shichang, team leader of this expedition, introduced.

Three aspects highlight the significance of this expedition, Prof. Kang went on to say, first, some new fields are planned in the study, such as the monitoring and measuring of atmosphere and pollutants in the water in this region, which will be the first time in the scientific community. Secondly, advanced instrument will be used in GPS and auto meteorological station for studies of Mt Everest. Thirdly, “change” will be the key word in studying Mt Everest this time, to understand environmental change and the influence of global change on the region.

As planned, the expedition starts on March 20^th. Most monitoring and research work is planned from April to June.