|   Larry Silverman, Esq. Environmental Lawyer Host and Executive Director Dr. Sam Hancock
& Professor at Johns Hopkins University Program Summary:The EmeraldPlanet program will provide valuable insights to our world-wide viewers on how the ancient nation of Nepal, which sits at "The Roof of the World" is the proverbial "canary in the coal mine" on severe climate change. The best kept secret in international relations is that of Nepal--a country of 28 million people embedded between India and China in the Himalayan mountains.
It is one of the most strategic and geo-politically important countries
on earth. One of five people on planet earth depends on the rivers
that originate in Nepal and its Himalayan neighbors of Bhutan and Tibet for their primary water.
The Ganges, the Brahmaputra,
and many other rivers of Asia originate in the mountains of Nepal,
water its foothills, and flow through its semitropical plains while
quenching the thirsts of one and one-half billion people. Key to this
water system for a large swath of the human family for thousands of
years are the great mountain glaciers. Nepal's glaciers are comparable
to the
American Great Lakes as reservoirs of fresh water.
These
glaciers and the supported natural and man-made systems are in
trouble. These are melting at a rate and volume which threatens a
stable future by repeating cycles of flood and drought while politicians
and scientists in the West dither over the pace of change. The people
of Nepal are awaking to vast lakes that were not there the month before
which may then violently burst the river banks in the next. Such
drastic change disrupts the seasonal monsoon rains and the other climate
and water changes that threaten
safety, health, food supply, livelihoods, and civil peace of one-fourth
of humankind.
Fortunately the Nepalese people are not content to be victims! Nepal contributes very small amounts of greenhouse gases to
the global atmosphere. Yet the nation is pursuing policies and
practices that offer some of the best and most efficient solutions to
the climate change problems created by more affluent countries. The alpine and temperate forests of
Nepal, like the Amazon Rain Forest, are the lungs of the earth. These
store carbon, convert sunlight, protect watersheds, and
refresh the atmosphere. Protecting these forests, grasslands,
wetlands, and other natural areas have become a national mission of the
Nepali nation. This leadership is due in large part to His Excellency Shankar P. Sharma, Ambassador, Embassy of Nepal. Ambassador Sharma and the people of Nepal understand the Nation's vast wealth of pharmaceutical plants, forests, food crops, grasslands, and its extraordinary mix of flora and fauna along with other national treasures must be protected.
These
topics will be covered by Ambassador Sharma and Larry Silverman, Esq.
Environmental Leader and Attorney. Our guests have worked tirelessly
throughout their long and distinguished careers to protect our earth's natural
resources and cultural heritages while bringing an increasing quality-of-life to a resource rich yet economically challenged nation. These two international experts will put a personal voice and face to the phenomena of severe climate change and the pace ofenvironmental quality development in Nepal that have long term implications for the World.
However,
Nepal with some of the richest natural treasures on earth is one of the
poorest countries on earth. Such a situation is not tenable. How to
address this unstable and dangerous
situations is the subject of today's program. The
complex interplay of public policy, financing, international
responsibility, cross-border politics, education, innovation,
and business development will be addressed through this Program with each guest being interviewed in one of the three-13 minute segments. The fourth [4th]
Segment will be a panel with both guests and Dr. Sam Hancock to cover
any issues or ideas not discussed in the individual session.
As you may know EmeraldPlanet is a worldwide non-profit organization dedicated to identifying at least 1,000 'best practices' for sustainable environmental and economic development. Our efforts are to link those having such "best practices" with those needing the technologies, processes, services, and products to be outstanding ecological stewards of their resources. Please support The Emerald Planet Television and The Emerald Trek through your generous donations of US$25, US$50, or US$100. Click the donations button to make your contributions now!
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