Arjin Mountains, a large uninhabited area in northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, has been getting warmer and wetter over the past 30 years due to climate change, according to Chen Xi, head of the Xinjiang Branch of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS).

Chen and his team, mostly from the Xinjiang Branch of the CAS and the Xinjiang Institute of Ecology and Geography, just finished a scientific expedition to the area from April 1 to April 7, which is the first whole-area comprehensive field research done there since 1984.

The Arjin Mountains, with an area of 45,000 square kilometers and an average altitude of 4,580 meters, is one of China's four largest depopulated zones. Due to its harsh natural conditions, it is the most challenging area to access in China's four uninhabited zones.

One of the major tasks for Chen's team was to evaluate how global warming has affected the region over the past decades.

"Through our previous research, we found that climate change has had a great impact on the area. The temperature has increased by 1.5 degrees Celsius in the past 30 years, which is a very big change," Chen told CGTN in an exclusive interview.

Since the area was listed as a national nature reserve in 1985, there has barely been any human activity there, which makes it an ideal experimental base for a natural ecological environment, he added.

Larger lakes and water area 

The natural environment of the area has indeed undergone great changes since the last expedition to the area in 1984, Chen told CGTN after the fieldwork.

The number of lakes and the water areas have been gradually increasing, with Ayakum Lake having grown into the largest lake in the whole of Xinjiang by 2021, which was unexpected by the researchers, he said.

The researchers have collected water samples from different lakes and rivers in the area, and will conduct further analysis to find out the factors behind the dramatic changes and analyze future trends.

Increasing wildlife populations  

The Arjin Mountains area is home to over 300 wildlife species, including around 50 state-protected animals, such as wild yaks, Tibetan antelopes, snow leopards and black-necked cranes.

Chen said there has been an increase in wildlife populations based on his preliminary observations during the expedition, and the animals showed no fear of people or vehicles, indicating that they have been well protected and enjoyed a rather undisturbed life there.

"Based on our survey in the northern area, the wildlife population may soon approach the limit of the area's carrying capacity, which is a major research task for us in the next step," he said. 

He said another research team specializing in wildlife animals will conduct further surveys in the area later this year.  

Heavy sandstorms

During the field work, Chen's team also encountered heavy sandstorms.

The sandstorms have very negative impact on the ecological environment of the area, he said.

"How often have sandstorms occurred in the past 30 years, and what's causing such severe sandstorms? Have wind speeds increased, or has there been a change in vegetation conditions? We will investigate further," he noted.  

Melting snow and ice

Another problem observed by Chen and his team was the melting of large amount of snow and ice in the area.

"When we drove along the junction of the southern and northern slopes of the Arjin Mountains, we saw many ice cirques had dried up and large-scale glaciers were retreating, which would have a great impact on this area," he said.

They will also conduct further investigations on this issue.

Chen said a comprehensive report on this expedition to the Arjin Mountains will be released around September this year.

Read more from CGTN's special coverage about the scientific expedition in Xinjiang:

Scientific survey of Arjin Mountains begins in Xinjiang, NW China

Scientists study climate change at one of world's highest deserts in Xinjiang, NW China

Video shot by: Qi Jianqiang, Xu Jiye, Yang Xinmeng

Video edited by: Wang Zengzheng