Leading geographers and ecologists discussed climate change and research on Siberian glaciers at Altai State University
Irina Rotanova, Candidate of Geographical Sciences, an associate professor of the Department of Physical Geography and GIS of Altai State University, Head of the GIS Center, in her report “Challenges of modernity in geography: from empirical knowledge of the world to geodigitalization,” presented the results of scientific projects using GIS technologies at the Institute of Geography of AltSU. These are geoinformation systems for specially protected natural areas created, for a example, during the design of the Altai Foothills natural park; cartographic modeling of the objects of tourist interest of the park (rocks, beautiful views, panoramas), and viewing platforms for tourists were modeled. Another work is the implementation of tourist zoning of the territory and tourist routes to the attractions of the Belukha Natural Park in the Altai Republic. The report also noted GIS for tourist-oriented territories with functional zoning, for example, the tourist and recreational cluster "Turquoise Katun", GIS for the resort town of Belokurikha with the design of health paths - recovery routes.
The main theme of the conference was the results of research on climate change and its impact on human economic activity. Natalya Kharlamova, Candidate of Geographical Sciences, an associate professor of the Department of Physical Geography and GIS of AltSU, told how the snow cover has changed in Altai Krai for more than 50 years. The climatologist notes a tendency towards an increase in the height of the snow cover and water reserves in it at most weather stations, with the exception of the steppe (Slavgorod, Rubtsovsk) and individual forest-steppe (Baevo, Kamen-on-Obi, Talmenka, Khabara) regions. To obtain good harvests in these water-deficient areas, it is especially important to develop a network of shelterbelts. The study of their influence on the distribution of snow cover was reported by Candidate of Geographical Sciences, a senior researcher of the Institute of Water and Environmental Problems, SB RAS Nikolai Bykov.
Anna Ziganshina, a research laboratory assistant at the International Complex Research Laboratory for the Study of Climate Change, Land Use and Biodiversity of the X-BIO Institute of the Tyumen State University, presented the results of the research group of the Earth Cryosphere Institute, RAS and her laboratory at TSU. Based on the morphoscopy data of quartz grains, she spoke about the conditions for the accumulation and transport of sediments in the Pleistocene in the north of Western Siberia. This serves as the basis for the reconstruction of the paleoclimate.
Galina Yamskikh, Doctor of Science from the Siberian Federal University introduced the conference participants to modern methods of palynological research, which allow reconstructing the vegetation and climate of past geological epochs, and can also be useful in studying forest areas after fires.
Thus, many reports presented the results of studying various aspects of nival-glacial systems. This is exactly what Doctor of Geological Sciences, Professor Viktor Revyakin devoted his scientific activity to.
The report of the team of authors Dmitry Ponomarenko, Oleg Ostanin and Galina Dyakova on changes in the Akkemsky glacier during the period of remote sensing was of particular interest to the conference participants. It has been established that since 1950 the glacier has retreated by 3 km.
The authors of the report succeeded in restoring the position of the Akkem glacier in the Little Ice Age according to the outlines of the final moraine complex. Based on landsat satellite images from 1977 to 2021 an animation was built that shows how the glaciers changed on the territory of the Belukha mountain range.
The dynamics of the development of Altai Krai in the ecological and economic space of Siberia was shown in his report by Doctor of Geographical Sciences Bella Krasnoyarova and Candidate of Geographical Sciences Sofia Sharabarina. They analyzed the index of regional development and the environmental capacity of this development from 1990 to 2020. The index of ecological capacity in Altai Krai is decreasing, which indicates a decrease in the impact of economic activity on the components of the environment. But what factors this is exactly related to, remains to be seen. The scientists emphasized that more industrial crops have been grown in Altai Krai, including soybeans and rapeseed.
The report of Tatyana Biche-ool from the Tuva State University, which was devoted to the search for models of sustainable development of the Republic of Tuva, aroused the interest of the participants. She spoke about the transformation of the transport infrastructure of the Republic, as well as about the existing problems and opportunities for the socio-economic development of the territory.
A significant event of the conference was the presentation of a stand on the stages of scientific activity of V. Revyakin, prepared by his wife Nadezhda Revyakina, who is now painstakingly organizing his scientific heritage.
The full materials of the conference will be published in the form of a collection, the publication of which is planned in the near future.