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Climate Change and Tibet

Posted Thu, 05/07/2009 - 04:37 by Jigme

Teaser:

Resources on Climate Change, including news papers articles, reports and websites

NEWS:

(News on Tibet's Environment and Development - Tibet.net)

Warming of plateau is 'threatening all Asia' (China Daily)
he Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, one of the most susceptible areas on the planet to global warming, is heating up at such an alarming rate that experts fear it will suffer environmental deterioration and water shortages that may threaten the entire continent.

Global warming benefits to Tibet: Chinese official (AFP)
Global warming could prove devastating for the Tibetan plateau, the world's third-largest store of ice, but it helps farming and tourism, Chinese state media said Tuesday, citing a leading expert.

China's Hydra-Headed Hydropolitics
The Sino-Indian Divide Over Water
By Brahma Chellaney

Climate Change at the Third Pole
By Shiva, Vandana

Climate change worries Dalai Lama (Swiss Info)
Climate change poses a bigger threat to Tibet than current political pressures, the Dalai Lama told a top Swiss parliamentarian on Thursday.

Qinghai-Tibet Plateau worst-hit by climatic changes (People's Daily)
The Qinghai-Tibet Plateau has been one of the worst-affected zones in the world by global climatic changes because of its unique landforms, terrains and environmental features, said Yu Xinwen, spokesman for the China Meteorological Administration.

Glacier thawing speeds up in Yangtze River sources (Xinhua)
XINING, July 28 (Xinhua) -- Glaciers covering almost 233 square kilometers have melted over the past 30 years in the source area of the Yangtze River, China's longest waterway, due to global warming and the melting is accelerating, experts said Tuesday.

Will Global Warming Melt the Permafrost Supporting the China-Tibet Railway? (Scientific American)
This crucial line of transportation crosses the Tibetan Plateau, parts of which are barely below freezing. Will any added warmth--either from climate change or the railway itself--destabilize the track's frozen foundation?

Security and Scarcity, the Two-headed Problem of Asian Hydropolitics (Policy Innovations)
A global strategy is needed by scientists and policymakers alike to address the challenge of water scarcity in Asia.

China Focus: Tibet grapples with worst drought in two decades (Xinhua)
Records of the regional weather bureau show that most parts of Tibet reported at least a 30-percent drop in rain since summer began in May. In Lhasa, Xigaze and Shannan in particular, precipitation was down by 70 percent to 80 percent.

Tibet to spend 37 million yuan to protect four wetlands (Xinhua)
Southwestern China's Tibet Autonomous Region will begin a project to conserve and resurrect four wetlands in the Ngari area in the second half of this year, the regional environmental protection administration said Thursday.

Desertification worsening in Tibet, regional foresty official says (Xinhua)
Desertified land, which currently covered 21.7 million hectares and accounted for 18 percent of Tibet's territory, was expanding 39,600 ha annually, said Sangye Drawa, Party chief with the regional forestry bureau of Tibet.

Climate change root cause for poverty, says report (China Daily)
Climate change has emerged as the main reason for poverty in China as over 95 percent of the poor live in ecologically fragile areas and are the most affected by the changing patterns, according to a new report.

Silk Road threatened by melting glaciers (New Scientist)
The Chinese gateway to the ancient Silk Road is being flooded - and the culprit, researchers say, is climate change. Melting glaciers sitting above the Hexi corridor in Gansu province, once an important trading and military route into Central Asia, are fuelling dramatic regional floods.

CTA Focuses on Effect of Climate Change in Tibet on World Environment Day (Tibet.net)
Dharamshala:The Environment and Development Desk (EDD) of the Central Tibetan Administration organised a talk on significance of Tibetan plateau and the affects of climate change and water projects initiated by the Chinese government in Tibet to mark the 'World Environment Day' (WED) on 5 June.

Climate change game-changer for China relations
By Nancy Pelosi
Climate change is an economic issue, a national security issue, an environmental health issue and a moral issue. It is also an opportunity for the United States and China to make progress together on behalf of both of our citizens and, indeed, the entire world.

PRESS CONFERENCE BY HEAD OF UNITED NATIONS FRAMEWORK CONVENTION ON CLIMATE CHANGE TO UPDATE STATUS OF NEGOTIATIONS (UN)
A viable climate change agreement was achievable before the critical Copenhagen meeting in December, but with only 200 days left, progress must accelerate, Yvo de Boer, Executive Secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change said at a Headquarters press conference today.

Tibetan Glaciers 'Melting Fast' (RFA)
Glaciers across the Tibetan plateau are melting "at an accelerated rate," raising concerns for harvests and river-flows in China and India, according to environmental experts.

Warming triggers 'alarming' retreat of Himalayan glaciers (News and Observer)
KAROLA PASS, Tibet-The glaciers of the Himalayas store more ice than anywhere on Earth except for the polar regions and Alaska, and the steady flow of water from their melting icepacks fills seven of the mightiest rivers of Asia.

Climate Change Could Destroy Tibetan Railways (Softpedia)
The problem is that 550 kilometers, or about 342 miles, of the entire length of the railways are built on permafrost, water-imbued soil that is always frozen. However, on account of global warming and climate change, officials fear that more than a quarter of the communication path could be affected by environmental changes.

Current developments in Tibet add to global warming dangers (Tibetan Review)
China’s development model for Tibet, entailing environmentally destructive industrial, mining and infrastructure development at a dizzying pace and massive influx of Chinese immigration can only worsen the situation considerably.

Tibet most harmed by global warming (China Daily)
May 7: The idyllic region of Tibet, known as the roof of the world, is suffering the most from global warming, experts said. The China Meteorological Administration (CMA) said the temperature in Tibet increased 0.32C every ten years from the year 1961 to 2008.

* Met chief: Tibet challenged by global warming (Xinhua)
* 'Global warming threatening Tibet' (Hindu)
* 'Climate threat' to Tibet region (BBC)

An uncertain future on the Plateau (China Dialogue)
April 28: Glacial melt poses critical risks to biodiversity, people and livelihoods on the Tibetan Plateau. Katherine Morton explores the possibilities for an effective regional response.

Tibet experiencing higher temperature (Times of India)
The study, based on data from 38 weather stations under the Tibet Autonomous Regional Metrological Bureau, indicated that the average temperature in the landlocked region rose 0.32 degree Celsius every 10 years between 1961 to 2008.

REPORTS:

The Big Melt - Climate Justice Tour (Website)
High Stakes: Climate Change, the Himalayas, Asia and Australia, August 2009
Compiled by David Spratt and Damien Lawson for Friends of the Earth Australia
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD

Joint Indigenous Peoples and NGO Statement on the occasion of the presentation of the Report of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) on the relationship between climate change and human rights (MS Words Format) -
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD

Report of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights on the relationship between climate change and human rights (PDF Format) -
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD

Resettlement policies threatening the survival of Tibetan nomads
CLICK HERE TO READ

Land and Water Resource Management in Asia:
Challenges for Climate adaptation
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD

The Anchorage Declaration
From 20-24 April, 2009, Indigenous representatives from the Arctic, North America, Asia, Pacific, Latin America, Africa, Caribbean and Russia met in Anchorage, Alaska for the Indigenous Peoples’ Global Summit on Climate Change. As a result The Anchorage Declaration was created.
CLICK HERE TO READ

WEBSITES:

- UN Climate Change Conference (COP 15)

- International Day of Climate Action (October 24, 2009)

- tic..tic..tic: time for climate justice

- Connect Climate Guest with Danish Homesz

- Climate Action Network

- International Work Group for Indigenous Affairs (IWGIA)
(Download 'Climate Change and Indigenous Peoples')

- The International Centre for Integration Mountain Development (ICIMOD)
(Document, 'Biodiversity and Climate Change in the Himalayas' is available on ICIMOD's website)

- Global Canopy Program
(Also avilable 'The Little REDD Book', a guide to the UN negotiation on Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation.)

VIDEO & PHOTOS:

PHOTOS: Social Documentary (Nomad Photos by Daniel Miller)

VIDOE: The following is a video from Asia Society on the Peril the Tibetan Plateau is under - as well its implication for all of us in light of global climate change.

Map of Tibet

Map Marking Locations of Self-Immolations (red) and Protest in 2012

Visit: www.standupfortibet.org
for more information on - ENOUGH:
Global Intervention to Save Tibetan Lives.

Facts about Tibet

Tibet lies at the centre of Asia, with an area of 2.5 million square kilometres (approximately 1 million square miles).

Despite over 50 years of Chinese occupation of Tibet, the Tibetan people refuse to be conquered and subjugated by China.

The Tibetan Plateau is the highest and biggest plateau in the world, so Tibet is referred to as “the roof of the world”.

For Tibetans, the term Tibet means the 3 provinces of U'Tsang, Kham and Amdo, the area traditionally known as Tibet before China's invasion.

The English word Tibet is derived from the Arabic word Tubbat. This word is in turn derived via Persian from the Turkic word Tobad, meaning ‘the heights’.

Tibet was occupied by China in 1949, and the Dalai Lama fled into exile in India in 1959.

Hundreds of thousands of Tibetans have died as a direct result of Chinese occupation since 1949.

There are six million Tibetans in Tibet and roughly 150,000 Tibetans in exile in India and other countries.

Tibetans consider the Dalai Lama to be the temporal as well as spiritual leader of Tibet.

Thousands of Tibetans cross the mighty Himalaya on foot every year into exile, risking death, injuries and arrest.

Most Tibetans are Buddhist, but there are Muslims, Christians and practitioners of Bon, the indigenous religion of Tibet.

In 1948 Tibetan government representatives traveled to the US, UK and France on Tibetan government issued passports.

The exiled Tibetan people elected their first Prime Minister in 2000

In 2008, Tibetans took part in more than 130 separate peaceful protests against the Chinese government across the Tibetan Plateau.

Displaying a photograph of the Dalai Lama in Tibet can result in arrest.

In 1995 the Chinese government abducted the 6 year old Panchen Lama, one of Tibet's most important spiritual leaders. He is still missing.

The longest epic poem in the world is the story of a legendary Tibetan king, Gesar of Ling.

The Tibetan Plateau is the Earth's "Third Pole," providing life-sustaining waters for and regulating weather across south and east Asia.

March 10 is Tibetan National Uprising day. It marks the massive uprising in Tibet in 1959 that led to the escape of the Dalai Lama into exile.

Yak is a Tibetan term for the male of the species. Its female counterpart is called Dri.

Tibetans are denied many of the rights enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, including the right to self- determination, freedom of speech and religion.

Untll 1949 Tibet had its own government that managed its own domestic and foreign affairs; Tibet had its own national flag and its own currency.

According to Amnesty International more than 1,000 Tibetans were unaccounted for after the protests of 2008.

In the Tibetan Lunar Calendar, the year 2009 corresponds to the year 2136, the Year of the Earth Ox.

Prior to the uprisings of 2008, the last major protests by Tibetans against China's occupation of Tibet took place in 1989, when martial law was declared.

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