SAN FRANCISCO, US, 9 August 2016
“Tibet is burning!” The slogan we used in the year 2012 during the 10th March protest in the San Francisco Bay Area is the most fitting expression to start with. Tibet undergoes the most critical period and deserves global attention — not just on the political and cultural fronts, but also on the wide range of environmental issues it faces, with global implications that require urgent fixes.
Rising mercury (Hg) concentration in Tibet’s glaciers, soil, and lakes is one such issue. Mercury is an environmental pollutant and major toxin due to its effects on the nervous, digestive, and immune systems. Tibet is considered the “Roof of the World” with its high altitude of 4,000 meters, and the “Third Pole” with its large glaciers. Mercury contamination has a huge impact on the fragile ecosystem and species due to its reported toxicity in the air, water, and soil. As a source of major rivers in Asia, supplying water to two billion of the world’s population, it also is called the “Water Tower of Asia”.
His Holiness the Dalai Lama has been a long-time champion of the global environment for decades, including Tibet’s fragile ecosystem; even before the global scientific community realized the rate at which global warming and environmental destruction is happening and its unforeseen repercussion that we are facing today. There has been large-scale industrialization, including building dams and diverting Tibet’s major rivers, mining, and exploitation of various natural recourses in Tibet by the so-called People’s Republic of China (PRC) and People’s Liberation Army (PLA). His Holiness warned of ramifications of this environmental exploitation to feed absurd and never-ending human greed.
However, the PRC has paid lip-service to environmental issues (which is nothing to be surprised of) and has never addressed the issues that need to be dealt with. Instead, they continue to exploit Tibet’s environment and mineral resources, threatening Tibet’s fragile ecosystem to fill their deep pockets and make hard cash at the cost of our nation, its people, and its habitats.
Mercury deposition in the Tibetan plateau and Himalayan region is due to long-range atmospheric transport of mercury, emitted to the atmosphere from human activities, caused by photochemical oxidation and mercury particulate matter deposition mainly during non-monsoon seasons. The high altitude and extremely cold temperature in Tibetan plateau and Himalayan ranges causes a “Hg sink” to form leading to a “cold trap” of mercury. The total mercury, and atmospheric inflow and deposition of mercury, was higher at higher altitudes in the northwestern more than southeastern area glaciers of the Tibetan plateau.
The data from various studies is a wake-up call given the sharp increase in human-caused mercury accumulation over the years in the Tibet and Himalayan region, especially the drastic increase in recent years. Although human-caused particulate transport from global industrialization is a vital contributor, Tibet is impacted by local contributors as well. There are senseless environmental degradation practices by PRC with large scale factory, mining, building of railway lines, … the list will go on and on. Related health issues and major rivers in south east Asia originating from Tibet make it an even more pressing issue. The high altitude, arid environment, and delicate ecology should be a source of concern globally with global warming and its high mercury concentration and deposition. It was also established its altitude effect and low post-depositional process such as photo reduction and reemission is
low as compared to the Arctic.
With global warming affecting Tibet at twice the global average rate, Tibet could act as major source of mercury toxicity in future, endangering its fragile ecology and health of humans and other species in Tibet, South or South East Asia, and globally. It is time the global community addresses the issue, and makes China act before it’s too late, especially for the south east Asian nations at the receiving end of major rivers originating out of the Tibetan plateau.
With scarce research done on the Tibetan plateau due to its high altitude and remoteness, more research is needed given high mercury concentration and deposition in recent studies and its fragile environment and geological significance of water resources. There is an equal need of more research to tackle the issue with concrete results in coming up with solutions in preventing or controlling mercury contamination of soil, lakes, and glaciers in Tibetan plateau.
One can only hope that the PRC, South Asian countries, and global community act before it is too late, and handle Tibet with care!!
- Shichang, K.; Huang, J.; Wang, F.; Zhang, Q.; Zhang, Y.; Li, C.; Wang, L.; Chen, P.; Sharma, C.M.; Li, Q.; Sillanpää, M.; Hou, J.; Xu, B.; Guo, J. "Atmospheric mercury depositional chronology reconstructed from lake sediment and ice cores in the Himalayas and Tibetan Plateau." Environ. Sci. Technol., Just Accepted Manuscript. 14 Feb 2016.
- Loewen, M.; Kang, S.; Armstrong, D.; Zhang, Q.; Tomy, G.; Wang, F. "Atmospheric transport of mercury to the Tibetan Plateau". Environ. Sci. Technol. 2007, 41, 7632-7638.
- Huang, J.; Kang, S.; Zhang, Q.; Jenkins, M.G.; Guo, J.; Zhang, G.; Wang, K. "Spatial distribution and magnification processes of mercury in snow from high-elevation glaciers in the Tibetan Plateau." Atmospheric Environment, Jan 2012.
- Yang, H.; Battarbee, R.W.; Turner, S.D.; Rose, N.L.; Derwent, R.G.; Wu, G.; Yang, R. "Historical reconstruction of mercury pollution across the Tibetan Plateau using lake sediments." Environ. Sci. Technol. 2010, 44, 2918-2924.
- Huang, J., Kang, S., Guo, J., Sillanpää, M., Zhang, Q., Qin, X., Du, W., Tripathee, L. "Mercury distribution and variation on a high-elevation mountain glacier on the northern boundary of the Tibetan Plateau." Atmospheric Environment, Oct 2014.
About the author
Tenzin Tsedup is a graduate in biochemistry from San Francisco State University. He is a former president of Tibetan Association of Northern California, and currently serves as board VP in Tibet Oral History Project and on the advisory board of Bay Area Friends of Tibet.
Please visit MeltdownInTibet.com and WildYakFilms.com by Michael Buckley. It was a great honor to meet the author some years back. His work is based on his research and provides us extremely useful insights into the issues which we all are seriously concerned about. I am sure we can look into his work and understand the level of damages being seen in various part of the Himalayan. The author was very concerned about the present situation and felt that global action to save Tibet’s delicate ecosystem is necessary.
Tenzin la can join hands with like-minded people and help to prevent further destruction of our homeland and ensure good supply of water to people living in the downstream of Tibetan plateau, for centuries.
Sonam Tso la, thanks for sharing his links and research work.. will definitely look at it. I’m sure he must be very concerned given the fact that he had done research as you mentioned. Any scientific data out of Tibet’s environmental issue and ecology is troubling and need to understand the urgency of the issue with drastic rise in the pollutants in Tibet and Himalyan region. Large scale global implication is bound to happen unless something is done to tackle the issue. Time is running out!!
Dear author,
The article is very well written. I totally agree with you. More research controlling the Mercury contaminating soils and water needs to be done. And even I hope that the PRC, South Asian countries, and global community will act before it is too late, and handle Tibet with care…
This article needs to be published more to create awareness among more people.
Bhod gyal lo..
Tridhe la, Thank you for your interest. We can definitely spread words and educate Tibetans and global community the urgency and extend of environmental crisis Tibet is facing to call upon action on international and national level.. This is a real thing and time is running out. HHDL had always spoken about Tibet’s environment and young people like you taking interest and understanding significance of the issue is a positive thing.