The “land of happiness” threatened by melting glaciers

ARTE.TV – ON DEMAND – REPORT

In the shadow of the Himalayan peaks, the inhabitants of the Lunana Valley, in the north of the kingdom of Bhutan, know that their wooden houses would be destroyed if the melting of the ice accelerates. The Thorthormi Glacier upstream is melting rapidly, raising the level of the lake of the same name. Just below, another, smaller lake is only separated from the first by a pile of rocks and ice, which could also disappear, leaving the Thorthormi to flow over the valley.

“The question is not whether it will happen or not… It is certain that an enormous amount of water will flow into the valley. As in a tsunami, it would be the same scenario as in the ocean, with immense waves”warns Karma Toeb, a Bhutanese glaciologist wrapped in a blue jacket, in the report. Bhutan: the green kingdom of the Himalayas.

Bright light, snow-capped peaks, blue lakes, green valleys, the landscapes of Bhutan are enough to make you dream, surrounded by peaks that reach 7,500 meters. But the images reported by Antoine Védeilhé and Germain Baslé are as beautiful as they are worrying for the future of this small state isolated in the middle of the mountains and trapped between two giants, China, the world’s leading polluter, responsible for 30% of carbon. CO₂ emissions, and India, in third place, with 7%.

Respect for the environment taught in school.

The small kingdom of Bhutan, on the other hand, is one of the three countries in the world that captures more CO₂ than it emits. As large as Switzerland, it owes this success to its thick forests, which cover 70% of the territory, and its modest population, which reaches 786,300 inhabitants. But also to the production of exclusively hydraulic electricity.

The dams are also subject to climatic pressure: in the last two years, water resources have decreased because monsoon rains arrive later and are less generous. A problem that is both environmental and economic, because Bhutan exports part of its electricity to India. But on the contrary, during the dry season, the country is increasingly forced to buy electricity produced by coal-fired power plants from its southern neighbor.

Like many developing countries, Bhutan suffers the consequences of climate change, for which it is not responsible. This Art report presents a State that places environmental protection at the center of its concerns. The kingdom watches over its forests, particularly fighting wild logging, and teaches respect for the environment at school, where each student cares for a young tree during their schooling. The environment is also an element taken into account in the famous “gross national happiness” index proposed by the country’s leaders to create an alternative to the purely economic gross domestic product.

The report also has the merit of presenting a little-known country that voluntarily limits tourism through a daily tax of $100. Behind the beauty and spirituality that emerge, the scenes filmed in a secondary school in the capital, Thimphu, where students seem to recite maxims learned by heart when talking about the environment, give the impression that the democratization begun in 2008 by This Buddhist kingdom is not yet anchored in local culture.