Climate Emergency: Feedback Loops<\/a>,\u201d a new educational film series narrated by International Campaign for Tibet Chairman Richard Gere.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\u201cAs the climate warms, forests, once removers of carbon, release it back into the atmosphere as carbon dioxide, or CO2,\u201d Gere explains in one clip. \u201cFrozen ground in the Northern Hemisphere thaws and emits CO2 and methane. These are the kinds of feedback loops that lead to further warming, triggering the release of even more heat-trapping gasses and raising the temperature even higher.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Susan Natali, one of the scientists who took part in the event, described how climate change and feedback loops are endangering environments like Tibet, which is already warming nearly three times faster than the global average.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe thawing of frozen ground called permafrost is dramatically altering the land in the Arctic and in other regions that contain permafrost, including the Tibetan plateau,\u201d said Natali, who leads the Arctic Program at Woodwell Climate Research Center. \u201cWhen permafrost thaws, it can cause the ground to collapse, damaging infrastructure, people\u2019s homes, and creating hazardous conditions for the people who live on permafrost.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Natali added that such thawing can affect the whole world because of permafrost feedback.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Dalai Lama\u2019s environmentalism<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
The Dalai Lama said he has already seen the effects of a changing climate in Tibet and in Dharamsala, India, where he has lived for more than 60 years since China\u2019s conquest of his homeland.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIn Tibet, in the Lhasa area [Tibet\u2019s capital], when I was young, most of the high mountains [had] a lot of snow,\u201d he said. \u201cBut gradually, year by year, less and less. And here in Dharamsala also, now the snowfall less and less.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Dalai Lama said scholars are warning that Tibet may someday become a desert. \u201cSo this is a serious matter,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He said he\u2019s committed to preserving Tibet\u2019s ecology. Already, he is one of the world\u2019s best-known advocates for climate action.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In 1989, when the Dalai Lama received the Nobel Peace Prize, he became the first person to win the award in part because of efforts to protect the environment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And at the start of this year, the Dalai Lama released a video titled \u201cOur Only Home,\u201d which calls for urgent action on climate change and promotes vegetarianism as one way to help heal the Earth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The video ties in with the Dalai Lama\u2019s new book<\/a>, \u201cOur Only Home: A Climate Appeal to the World,\u201d co-authored with German environmental journalist Franz Alt.<\/p>\n\n\n\nWorking together<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
During the event, Thunberg thanked the Dalai Lama for his activism.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI can say as a younger generation, we appreciate that very much,\u201d she said. \u201cWe are eternally grateful that you are standing up for us\u2014not only for us, but for the future of the entire humanity and for the entire planet.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Thunberg said she hoped their discussion would lead people to learn more about climate feedback loops and to organize for climate action.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIf I could ask one thing of you, it would be to educate yourself,\u201d she said. \u201cTo try to learn as much as you possibly can\u2014there\u2019s an unlimited amount of information\u2014and spread that knowledge, spread that awareness to others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe need to create a social movement,\u201d she said. \u201cWe need to shift the social norm. Because if we are enough people who demand change and who are advocating for these things, then we reach a critical mass. And then we will no longer be possible to ignore.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Diana Chapman Walsh, the president emerita of Wellesley College who moderated the discussion, said it was inspiring to see Thunberg and the Dalai Lama in tandem.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe will all hold that image of the two of you together,\u201d she said. \u201cThese two moral leaders and all that you represent, all the people behind you. We\u2019ll hold that in our hearts as we go forward and take up this work together.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
WATCH THE DALAI LAMA WITH GRETA THUNBERG AND LEADING SCIENTISTS:<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
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