20 December 2010

Spurred by climate change, plant die-offs could wreak havoc on Tibetian lifestyle

For thousands of years the traditional herders of Tibet have lived among mountains, lakes and grasslands. Their livelihood– raising yak, sheep, and goats on the largest and highest plateau on the planet–is a precarious one.

As the planet warms, seasons that are normally dry on the Tibetan Plateau–winter and spring–are forecast to turn wet. At this elevation, the precipitation would fall as snow. Kelly Hopping, a graduate student in Ecology at Colorado State University, is worried this snow may disrupt the traditional life of these Tibetans.

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