Why is the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau so important?

The first time I heard it on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau was because of the song "Qinghai-Tibet Plateau" by singer Han Hong. The Qinghai-Tibet Plateau in the lyrics is magnificent, standing tall and more attractive. But do we really know about the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau? Do you understand its importance?

The Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, known as the "roof of the world" and "roof of the world", is the largest plateau in China and the highest plateau in the world. It starts from the Himalayas in the south, reaches Kunlun Mountain, Altun Mountain and Qilian Mountain in the north, and borders the Qinling Loess Plateau in the west and northeast, between 2600 ′ 39 47 ′ north latitude and 73 ′19 ′104 47 ′ east longitude. It is about 2800 kilometers long from east to west and 300 ~ 1.500 kilometers wide from north to south, with a total area of 2.5 million square kilometers.

There is a desert belt of 30 degrees north latitude on the earth, from North Africa to the east, namely Sahara Desert, Arabian Desert, Root Desert, thar desert and Death Valley of the United States. In many places, the annual precipitation is below 200mm, which is a veritable desert zone. Similarly, 30 degrees south latitude seems to be eating. Why is this happening? Because in the latitude range of 20-30, it is an area controlled by subtropical high, and downdraft prevails. In this case, it is difficult for water vapor to condense to form precipitation, and it is understandable that precipitation is scarce and desert is formed.

Let's take a look at China, which is 30 degrees north latitude, but it is a water town in the south of the Yangtze River. Why? 30 degrees north latitude is affected by subtropical high all the year round, and downward flow prevails. In this case, it is difficult for water vapor to condense to form precipitation, and precipitation is scarce. Over time, a desert was formed. Theoretically, there should be more deserts in China, but the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau itself has changed the reality.

There are three terraces in China. 65 million years ago, the Asia-Europe plate collided and squeezed with the Indian plate to form the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. This huge extrusion pressure is continuously transmitted to the northeast, forming the Inner Mongolia Plateau, the Loess Plateau and the Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau. The first and second steps are formed, and the plains of the three northeastern provinces are the third. The topographical features of China are high in the west and low in the east.

What is the impact of such topographical features? In summer, the land temperature rises faster than the ocean, so the sea surface wind blows from the ocean to the land, which will bring a lot of water. Water vapor passes through the plain unimpeded, but when it meets the second and third steps, it will be intercepted by the plateau mountains, and the airflow will be blocked and changed direction, forming a local small cycle. The land of abundance, Jiangnan water town and Beidacang were thus formed. In winter, the wind should be the opposite, but when the cold current from Siberia blows to the interior of China, it is weakened by the mountains of the first and second steps, so we seldom have a big cold wave. The first and second steps are like guards, guarding the Central Plains.

Although most of the water vapor from the Pacific Ocean stays in Chinese mainland, its distribution is very uneven. There is much precipitation in the southeast coastal areas and it is very dry in the northwest. The monsoon blowing from the Indian Ocean in the west is divided into two parts by the Himalayas. Warm and humid airflow blows to South China and East China, bringing abundant precipitation, but dry and hot airflow blows to Xinjiang, Gansu and Inner Mongolia, which aggravates the local drought. This is how the Taklimakan desert was formed.

In order to solve the problem of drought and water shortage in northwest China, China started the South-to-North Water Transfer Project for decades. The original idea of this project was put forward by President Mao Zedong when he visited the Yellow River in 1952. Since then, through the analysis and comparison of more than 50 schemes, the water transfer scheme has achieved many valuable results. The planning area of South-to-North Water Transfer Project involves a population of 438 million, and the water transfer scale is 44.8 billion cubic meters. The total length of the east, middle and west trunk lines planned by the project is 4350 kilometers. The first phase of the East and Middle Lines is 2,899 kilometers long, and the first-class supporting branch canals in six provinces and cities along the line are about 2,700 kilometers.

The South-to-North Water Transfer Project has three water transfer routes, namely, the eastern route, the middle route and the western route. Through the connection of three water transfer lines with the Yangtze River, the Yellow River, the Huaihe River and the Haihe River, the overall layout with "four horizontals and three verticals" as the main body is formed, which is conducive to realizing the rational allocation pattern of water resources in China.

The Qinghai-Tibet Plateau is also known as the water tower of Asia, in which the glacier area is about 6,543,800 square kilometers, the perennial snow area is about 300,000 square kilometers, the frozen soil area is about 6,543,800 square kilometers, and the lake area is about 50,000 square kilometers. Seven important rivers in Asia, such as the Yellow River, the Yangtze River, the Ganges River, the Mekong River, the Indus River, the salween River and the Irrawaddy River, are all bred here. There are 344 lakes with an area of more than one square kilometer in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. Fifty years, that is, from 1970, the number of lakes discovered today is as high as 1424. Among them, the storage capacity of glaciers is about 8850 cubic kilometers, which is about 8 trillion cubic meters of water. The water storage capacity of lakes over 50 square kilometers is about 81500 million cubic meters; 13 the estimated runoff of major rivers originating from the outlets of major rivers on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau is about 656 billion cubic meters, not counting the water volume of small lakes. The name of "Asian Water Tower" is worthy of the name.

The Qinghai-Tibet Plateau is rich in light energy and geothermal resources. Frozen soil is widely distributed on the plateau, and vegetation is mostly natural grassland. The Qinghai-Tibet Plateau is also one of the birthplaces of Chinese nation and Chinese civilization. Fuxi,, * * * Gong, April, Jintian, and Yu Xia, who have been circulated in the history of Chinese civilization, are all ancient Qiang people on the plateau. The residents on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau are mainly Tibetans, forming a plateau cultural system dominated by Tibetan culture.

The Qinghai-Tibet Plateau also contains endless strategic resources. The Mediterranean-Tethys metallogenic belt, one of the three major metallogenic belts in the world, traverses the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, making the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau the region with the richest mineral resources. Some data show that 120 kinds of mineral resources have been found here, which have great potential value. Among them, chromium, copper, zinc, lithium, magnesium, boron, potassium salt, asbestos and other mineral resources are among the best in the country, with good prospects for oil resources and abundant hydropower, solar energy and geothermal resources.

The Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, located in the depths of the Eurasian continent, is a hub connecting the Asian continent and a huge buffer zone between China and South Asian countries, especially India. The unique geographical location makes the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau easy to defend and difficult to attack, and it can advance and retreat freely. For India and Southeast Asian countries, the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau is a real source of life and a difficult peak to climb.

From a military point of view, being on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau is equivalent to occupying the commanding heights, which basically ensures that China is invincible in the war against India (China's greatest threat in Asia). The distance from the Sino-Indian border to New Delhi is about 400 kilometers, while the distance to Beijing is 4000 kilometers, which is about 10 times. If China goes to war with India, India's missile weapons will reach the central hinterland of China, which is 10 times longer than similar weapons from China.

God bless China. It's not just talk. The roof of the world gives China a full latitude climate in the world, although there is no full latitude area. The Qinghai-Tibet Plateau is a godsend. In ancient times, the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, as a geographical barrier, guarded the security of the Chinese nation, making Chinese civilization the only civilization in the world that has continued to this day. It has nurtured Chinese children and is the source of Chinese civilization.

No matter in which period, the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau has protected China by its own efforts. China is a vast country, and not an inch of land is superfluous. The Qinghai-Tibet Plateau is the most important.