News came from the recently concluded initiation meeting that Chinese scientists will be engaged in a program to produce a high-resolution 3-D visible cartoon animation to play the formation of the Tibetan Plateau in geological times and its resultant effects on environmental changes.  

This science-popularization effort is a sub-program of a National Science and Technology Pillar Program. One of the major aims of the program is to develop apparatus for the Tibetan Museum of Natural Sciences, to enable audiences to experience vividly the situation during the Tibetan Plateau formation. ITP Prof. DING Lin took on the responsibility to lead the program. It also involves scientific staff from Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, CAS, and Animation School of Communication University of China.

It was introduced during the initiation meeting that the uplift of the plateau will be made into an animation, considering its possible effects of the uplift on changes in atmospheric circulation patterns and ecological environment in the region. To make the animation public audience-friendly, scientists planned to include such information as natural resources (i.e., fauna and flora, and minerals) and physical geomorphology of the Plateau, as well as beautiful scenic spots in the cartoon animation, too.

Once completed, the cartoon animation is expected to allow audiences to experience evolution processes of geomorphology, environment, ecology, climate, fauna and flora on the Tibetan Plateau in geological times. It will also shed light on the variations of land surface and atmospheric processes on the Plateau, and their possible influences on climate and environment in Asia and even the northern hemisphere.