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LIFE IS EASIER IF YOU DON'T SPEAK UP
Nobel Peace Prize Laureates the Dalai Lama and Nelson Mandela take time off—in these images created by the Danish agency Unkle. The images ran in Denmark's largest-selling newspaper, Morgenavisen Jyllands-Posten, as a way of provoking discussion—later appearing in the website: theinspirationroom/daily/.

SKIING IN THE HIMALAYAS? Unheard of in Tibet, but possible in northern India—for now. Not clear what will happen in 20 years if the Himalayan snowpack disappears. Surfing in South Africa? Yes, but might get tricky if sea levels rise—might be surfing past skyscrapers in Jo'berg.

What to do? There are looming climate change problems that are going to be hard to stop or reverse. Nature doesn't do bailouts. But something can certainly be done to minimise or stall the human interference factors that are compounding water-stress problems in Asia. That all goes back to Tibet—to the building of large dams and to the damage cause by pollution of rivers due to mining—and due to dumping of toxic waste.

The fate of billions of people in Asia depends on access to clean water—and access to the huge volume of nutrient-rich silt that the rivers carry along from Himalayan peaks to the sea. And access to the migrating fish species in these rivers. Campaign to keep the rivers sourced in Tibet free-flowing. Not strangled by dams. Not diverted for mining and industry. And free from pollution. Rivers have rights: they have the right to flow to the sea. And they have the right to remain pristine.

"By having its hand on Asia's water tap, China is therefore acquiring tremendous leverage over its neighbours' behaviour. That the country controlling the headwaters of major Asian rivers is also a rising superpower, with a muscular confidence increasingly on open display, only compounds the need for international pressure on Beijing to halt its appropriation of shared waters and accept some form of institutionalised co-operation."
—Brahma Chellaney, New Delhi, August 2011, from a news article: Water is the new weapon in Beijing's armoury

CAMPAIGNS

• internationalrivers.org
  US-based organisation that campaigns to save rivers worldwide and stop dams; features a China campaign section
• stopminingtibet.com
  Canadian group that campaigns to stop foreign companies mining in Tibet
  run by studentsforafreetibet.org
• savetibet.org
  US-based, focuses on human rights in Tibet; a number of branches in Europe
• amnesty.org
  a recent Amnesty campaign targets the global right to clean water, being pursued at the UN. There are several aspects relating to the rights of indigenous peoples. One is the right to access clean drinking water—water that is not tainted by toxic pollutants generated by companies bent on mining or oil exploitation. Another human rights problem concerns diversion of traditional water resources away from indigenous peoples to serve industrial uses and/or large cities. The rights of Tibetan nomads have been clearly violated in both cases.
• www.waterkeeper.org
  Group that pushes for the right to clean water, on a worldwide basis. There are chapters in China. In view of climate change and the damming of Tibet's rivers, Waterkeeper is floating the idea of a Himalayan Rivers Treaty campaign.
• thebigmelt.org
  Climate Justice campaign from Friends of the Earth Australia. You can download a PDF report called High Stakes, which has a wealth of detail about the dire situation in the Himalayas and how it will impact Asia and Australia.
• www.freetibet.org/campaigns/third-pole
  FreeTibet in the UK is campaigning to put a stop to removing Tibetan nomads from their grassland habitat and forcibly settling them in concrete ghettos. The campaign aim is to return stewardship of the grasslands and of Tibet's natural resources to their rightful masters—the nomads.

• burmariversnetwork.org
  A site devoted to letting the rivers go free—in Burma, at least, where rivers are held hostage to China's engineering whims.

• tibet3rdpole.org
  Incentive back by some 170 members of the International Tibet Support Network (www.tibetnetwork.org), advocating fundamental human rights of Tibetans to environmental self-determination, as they seek to adapt to climate change.
• treesfortibet.com
  a project with the very ambitious aim of preserving nomad heritage in Tibet by planting trees to stall desertification. This site should not be confused with treesfortibet.org which fosters tree-planting for Tibetans at settlements in India.

INTERACTIVE DAM SITES

• dameffects.org
  Basic Dam Impacts—explore the components of healthy rivers and what happens when a dam is built at this interactive website
• nationalgeographic.com/resources/ngo/education/geoguide/dams
  Geoguide Dams is an interactive educational website from Nat Geo that looks at rivers before, during, and after dam construction

COOL LINKS FOR TIBET

• WildYakFilms.com
  from Nomad to Nobody:
  a documentary about the plight of Tibetan nomads and how their fate affects the eco-system of Tibet
• tibetanplateau.blogspot.com
  Tashi's Blog—run by Tashi Tsering, a Tibetan expert studying the impact of climate change on Himalayan water resources
• tew.org
  Tibet Environmental Watch: news reports about Tibet's environment can be accessed from this California-based site. Has a number of satellite and themed maps.
• griffonexpeditions.com
  get up close and personal with the mighty rivers of the Tibetan Plateau—scare the heck out of yourself with rafting and kayaking sorties organised by Griffon in Tibet, Bhutan and Nepal. This site has cool photos. Some sub-zero photos too.
• forloveofwater.org
  FLOW is a non-profit group dedicated to heightening awareness about the magnificent rivers and gorges of Yunnan and beyond. They offer guided rafting trips so you can get close to the awesome landscapes.
• lastdescents.com
  touring with a purpose—trips with eco focus on Tibet's rivers. Related is: www.shangri-la-river-expeditions.com—a site devoted to river exploration on the Tibetan plateau and first descents records

PLANET IN TROUBLE

• extremeicesurvey.org
  the future? It is slipping away, one huge chunk of ice at a time: you can see it happening on this extraordinary site.
• environment.nationalgeographic.com/environment/freshwater
  Freshwater initiative from Nat Geo, with a wealth of material on the global water crisis—articles from experts, photos, video, maps and other media.
• www.circleofblue.org
  reporting on the global water crisis, this superb site is backed by water expert Peter Gleick, who runs the Pacific Institute
• blueplanetproject.net
  The Blue Planet Project is an international civil society movement begun by The Council of Canadians to protect the world's fresh water from the growing threats of trade and privatization. The project was founded by leading water activist Maude Barlow.
• www.youtube.com/homeproject
  Trailer for the brilliant climate-change film, HOME, by Yann Arthus-Bertrand. From here you can find the HD version of the entire movie on YouTube, which lasts an hour and a half. Mesmerising aerial cinematography captures a planet in deep trouble.

In Calcutta, a city of 16 million, water resources are limited. Every morning, in poorer parts of Calcutta, municipal water-trucks drive out to deliver water to residents. The water is transferred by hoses into plastic containers.