Super Eco

Photo credit: adeh, SXC

If there's one thing we know, it's that everything changes. Problem is, we don't always expect change to happen so fast, or with such far-reaching consequences: reports are coming in almost daily now about the projected effects of global climate change even in the near term, and the prognosis doesn't look good. And in China and Tibet, glaciers are melting. Fast.

Why should we care? These glaciers are huge water sources, which means there will be drought downstream. High altitude ecosystems will be affected, and the people who live in them will have to move elsewhere, their livelihoods destroyed. Lakes are filling up, covering pastureland, while drinking water is at a premium since smaller glaciers that normally supply it are drying up. The balance is shifting, in other words. Rivers are filling now with glacial melt but that's only temporary; when the glaciers are gone those rivers will dry up, affecting everyone downstream. Several of China's largest rivers begin high in the Himalayas where glacial retreat is a problem.

In Tibet this threatens an entire way of life, affecting the nomadic people who live there, and bringing a new meaning to the bumperstickers we see that bear the words, "Save Tibet."

Depressing? Sure. Can we do anything about it? Maybe. It's worth a try. China is looking harder at the problem now, and WWF International suggests that countries around the world ratify the UN Water Convention so as to create transboundary water management that will take us into the future of this coming change.

Boundaries between countries blurring to aid in better water management for the people who live in those adjoining countries? That sounds ike a step in the right direction to us.