The world's first international standard on karst monitoring, recently published by the international Organization for Standardization (ISO), has provided standardized protocols in managing the delicate landscape.
The standard, titled Specification of Monitoring Technology for Karst Critical Zones, is led by scientists from China, where karst accounts for nearly one-third of the land area.
The newly released standard sets specific requirements for high-precision real-time monitoring with a focus on carbon-water-calcium cycling.
"From the surface to deep into the caves, we conduct real-time monitoring of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, soil, and inside the caves, recording a set of data every 5 to 15 minutes. At the same time, we monitor carbon changes in rainfall, surface water, soil water, and groundwater," said Xiao Qiong, a researcher of the Institute of Karst Geology under the Chinese Academy of Geological Sciences.
Karst terrain is widely distributed worldwide, spanning 22 million square kilometers and supplying domestic and industrial water to roughly a quarter of the world's population.
"The release of the new standard can guide the monitoring of soil moisture, organic carbon, calcium, and various other nutrient elements, facilitating a better understanding of their cycling mechanisms. This, in turn, provides a scientific basis for offering recommendations on soil and water conservation," said Zhang Cheng, another researcher from the Institute of Karst Geology.
The standard also unifies the construction criteria for karst critical zone monitoring stations, forming standardized protocols covering monitoring procedures, data collection and processing, and information sharing services, making karst carbon cycle monitoring more accurate.
New int'l monitoring standard paves way for better karst management
The head of German auto giant Mercedes-Benz has stressed the automaker is looking to navigate through the current challenges facing the auto sector by investing in innovation, technology and new products, with the firm introducing a wave of new vehicle models.
Ola Kallenius, Chairman of the Board of Management of Mercedes-Benz Group AG, was speaking in an interview with the China Global Television Network (CGTN), during which he acknowledged that intense competition amid a complex environment is squeezing profit margins, particularly in key markets such as China.
Kallenius listed several external pressures facing the company which come amid the wider changes taking place across the industry, and said automakers will simply have to adapt in order to remain competitive.
"I don't think that the intense competitive situation in China is going to go away any time soon, so there will be pressure here. Of course, the tariff system, especially for a global company like Mercedes-Benz, it has changed and we have to accept that now. And there are also other regulatory challenges or other things that's going on in the world," he said.
Kallenius said that while making efforts to manage disruptions in the short-term, the Mercedes-Benz Group is investing more in innovation, technology and products.
He noted that as part of this strategy the firm is unveiling 40 new models in the three-year period up to 2027 as it looks to build momentum to overcome the present difficulties.
"I think that 2026 for us is a year of execution, actually bringing models into the pipeline [and we aim to] build upon that in 2027 and 2028. So we take for this financial picture, we take like a mid-term view," he said.
"We have a solid foundation. Yes, it is a tougher business environment than it was maybe three years ago. But we can deal with it and we want to build ourselves into a stronger position over the next years into the mid-term carried by the product offensive," Kallenius said.
Mercedes-Benz CEO says firm pinning recovery on product offensive
