The photograph above is that of a nomad’s tent in Tibet. But the nomads there are not happy at all. They are worried because the world’s “third Pole” is warming up faster than any other place in the world. The Tibetan plateau is reeling under the effects of global warming and its green pastures are vanishing everyday, leaving the region barren and forcing the nomads in the region give up their traditional occupation of herding.

According to the experts, the reasons are varied: the rising temperature gets compounded by the pollution from India and China; the towering Kunlun, Himalayan and Karakorum ranges that surround the plateau act as a chimney for water vapour  — which has a stronger ‘greenhouse gas’ effect than carbon dioxide — to be convected high into the stratosphere. The concoction spreads like a  brown cloud across the Eurasian landmass. Adding to the environmental woes is methane, a powerful ‘greenhouse gas’, that gets released when the permafrost in the plateau melts.

Xiao Ziniu, the director general of the Beijing climate centre, says Tibet’s climate is the most sensitive in Asia and influences the globe. The Chinese government is trying to tackle the economic impact of the desertification by providing compensation and housing to the locals. About 50 per cent to 80 per cent of the 2.25 million nomads on the Tibetan plateau are getting relocated.

 According to state media, the Chinese government aims to restore the grasslands, prevent overgrazing and improve living standards. But, the people are not happy; they are not skilled enough to find alternative occupations. So, given a choice, they say they would go back to herding. Only if they had got the green grasses back.