Transforming Earth science in the 21st century

Earth scientist Jian Zhimin shares his feelings during a seminar on Dec 8 at the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Beijing after he was elected an academician of the CAS. "The ocean is the largest reservoir of heat in the Earth's climate system and one of the primary factors determining climate change," Jian said. In October last year, the research study, titled "Warm pool ocean heat content regulates ocean-continent moisture transport", was published in the prestigious academic journal Nature. Over the past 30 years, Jian has been part of numerous field investigations conducted in the South China Sea, Pacific and Indian Oceans, aboard international scientific research vessels. In 1997, he joined French research vessel Marie Tharp for the third expedition of the International Marine Global Change Study in the western Pacific Ocean and the South China Sea.