I actually started to be personally affected by the implications of the scientific information that was coming out,” says British biologist John Stanley. This “information” includes a shocking prediction by the UN Environmental Program and the Inter-Governmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)which represents a consensus view of 2,000top climatologists, that the effects of habitatdestruction and global warming could lead toup to a 50% loss of all species on the planet as early as 2050. If we were to put the level of the environmental emergency in terms of theUS government’s terrorist threat color-scale,says Stanley, “We’re way beyond red. Wewent into red at the end of the 1980s.”
This knowledge has given Stanley the look of a man who has been told he only has a short time to live. “If you stop denying it, then you’re in this very vulnerable state.” Stanley, who has been a practicing Buddhist for thirty years, points to “a disconnect between what scientists are saying and what the general public is able to process. This is very strongly repressed in the culture. But if you’re a meditator, you’re going to be made more and more uncomfortable, and eventually you will have to face the elephant in the living room.”
Tibet
Tibet has been described as the world’s “third pole” because it contains the largest ice elds outside of the Arctic and Antarctic. Studies show that the effects of global warm-ng are more pronounced at higher elevations, nd in Tibet, the rate of climate warming has been found to be three times the global rate. his is causing Tibet’s giant glaciers to melt t an alarming seven percent a year.
The Dalai Lama told Stanley that members of the older generation in Tibet are reporting that there is much less snow than in years past – to them this is a sign of the end of the world. Tibetan pilgrims are noticing a retreat f the snowline at the sacred mountain of Kailash, and are concerned that the protective deities are disturbed. Without any knowledge of science, these people are more n touch with the danger than most.
Stanley calls Tibet a “tipping point” when it comes to climate change. “The whole of the Tibetan Plateau has a critical regulatory effect on the rest of the planetary climate.” This is because snow and ice reflect solar radiation back into space. As the glaciers melt, this reflective capacity is lost and so more sunlight – and therefore more heat – is absorbed, further speeding up the cycling of glacial melt. Tibet’s glaciers also provide a major component of the flow of the six great rivers of Asia. One-and-a-half billion people depend on these rivers for their water. If things continue to go the way they’re heading, these glaciers are destined to disappear as early as 2035.
One of the rivers that flow from Tibet is the Yellow River which provides water for nine provinces across northern China. Currently, the whole of China is officially in a state of drought and is looking at the very real danger of famine. Through its continued reliance on coal-powered electrical plants, China is pushing global warming “farther and faster than anything else,” says Stanley. “China is the principal driver of the meltdown of the Tibetan plateau which is supplying its own water. If China calculates its own self-interest correctly, then it will see that Tibet is its own reservoir in the sky.” And with Tibet proving to be a global player in the climate crisis, it seems fitting that it was the Dalai Lama who was the first to sign.
Stanley is the author of the book A Buddhist Response to the Climate Emergency. He feels that of all the world’s religions, Buddhism could be a leading voice for the environment because Buddhism is not opposed to science. He has launched an online initiative for concerned Buddhists to voice their concern. You can view this initiative at the website he founded at: ecobuddhism.org.
Rebecca Novick is the founding producer of The Tibet Connection radio program online at thetibetconnection.org where you can hear more from biologist John Stanley and others.
By Rebecca Novick
