New Views of the Tibetan Plateau

Text by Daniel Miller

Photographs courtesy of NASA

rom a global environmental perspective, few other places in the world are as important asthe Tibetan Plateau is now. Rising concerns about global warming, climate change, re-ceding glaciers, desertification, food insecurity and loss of biodiversity all point to thesignificance of the Tibetan Plateau in addressing these global challenges. Tackling theseimportant global issues require greatly increased scientific research in Tibetan areas and improvedunderstanding of current land use practices, especially of agriculture, forestry and livestock grazing.Critical examination of existing environmental conservation and economic development policiesand programs is required. New thinking on how we view the Tibetan landscape is also needed. The Tibetan Plateau refers to a unique geographical area of Asia; a landscape not marked by linesdrawn on a map, but defined by topography. It is a region with particular geological, ecological andsocio-cultural characteristics that distinguishes it. Tackling global environmental challenges in the21

century demands that we start to view the Tibetan Plateau more holistically and try to developa better understanding of its unique ecology, the value of its natural resources and its illustrious cul-tural heritage. To really grasp the significance of the Tibetan Plateau, in terms of its central position in Asia, itsextensive land area and extreme topography, a new perspective of the Tibetan landscape is re-quired. In my office I have a plastic, raised-relief map of China in which the Tibetan Plateau andadjoining mountain ranges stand out clearly. This map visibly depicts the vast area encompassedby the plateau and the abrupt uplift of the Himalaya rising from the plains of northern India. Thismap allows you to better see the nature of the Tibetan Plateau and helps you to develop a betterappreciation for how large and high in elevation it is compared to the surrounding areas.

A remarkable image that provides a new perspective of the Tibetan Plateau is a computer-generated visualization based on remotely sensed data acquired by satellites. In this image, devel-oped by the Scientific Visualization Studio, NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center, the elevation of the Himalaya and Tibet has been exaggerated, enabling one to better perceive the central positionof the Tibetan Plateau in Asia and its unique geography. Looking at this map you can easily see why Tibet is termed the “Roof of the World” and how it dominates the map of Asia. You canalso notice how rivers flow out of the mountains and across the plains of India into the Bay of Bengal.In addition to satellite-derived images, hand-held photographs taken of the earth by astronauts inSpace Shuttle missions and on the International Space Station provide an out-of-the-ordinary ob-servation of the Tibetan Plateau (all of these images are available for viewing and downloading from the NASA website: http://eol.jsc.nasa.gov/sseop/). Taken at heights of 200 to 400 kmabove the earth, these photos provide a fascinating point of view; an outlook that captures not only the magnificent splendor of the Himalaya Mountains and other ranges, but also the immense ex-panse of the Tibetan Plateau. The photographs from space enable you to really envisage the lay of the land from a broad, landscape perspective, especially those oblique shots that show the horizon.Unhindered by the clutter of political boundaries one begins to define the land by watersheds, by mountain ranges and large lakes; the natural demarcations of an environment. One needs to keepin mind that on these astronaut photos, north is not always at the top of the photograph.

Computer generated visualization of the Tibetan Plateau based on satellite imagery. NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center.

These views from space provide a new look of the Tibetan Plateau. A perspective that helps oneto think globally. They enable you to see the landscape in its entirety. Environmental conservationand development strategies for the Tibetan Plateau need to encompass a broad scale and imple-ment programs at the level at which natural systems operate. This landscape level of attention en-sures persistence of populations and ecological processes and has to work across political bounda-ries. Artificial, man-made politically drawn lines on a map do not stop a river from flowing down-hill nor do they prevent black-necked cranes from migrating or Tibetan argali and Tibetan wild assfrom crossing international borders in search of forage to graze on. Birds and animals don’t needpassports and visas to travel across the earth and we now need to adopt a similar style in how weperceive landscapes. The American poet, Gary Snyder, got it right when he wrote, “Now, with insights from the eco-logical sciences, we know that we must think on a scale of a whole watershed, a natural system. Ahabitat. To save the life of a single parrot or monkey is truly admirable. But unless the forest issaved, they will all die.” Saving the Tibetan Plateau requires a new way of thinking; an approachthat recognizes watersheds instead of political frontiers to define plans of action for conservationand development. It also requires acceptance of the complex nature of the Tibetan landscape, notonly in the ways that physical forces shape it, but also in ways that socio-economic and institutionalforces interact and impact the nomads and farmers who use the natural resources.

Astronaut photograph of Western Tibet and the Himalaya looking west with the Space Shuttle visible in the top of the photo. In this image,the bow-shaped lake in the bottom center of the photo is Peko Tso in the Kyirong region. To the left is Nepal and the plains of northern India.The Changtang, or northern plains of Tibet, is on the right. In the distance is the Kailash region and beyond that, Ladakh. NASA.Image ID: STS41G-120-22, taken in October 1984