I Have Seen the Earth Change, Nepal

This is another in the series of films made by Jérôme-Cécil Auffret on the impact of global warming in communities around the world. This film goes to Nepal, and the guide here in Norbu Sherpa, who has seen the devastating effects that warming is having on the Himalayas.

While still a young boy Norbu witnessed the aftermath of the breaking of the walls of a glacial lake as millions of tons of water and earth crashed through his village taking many lives and houses away.

Norbu was in training to become a lama at the time, but had to put that aside in order to look after his family and help rebuild their lives. He now works as a tour guide to the foreigners who come to Nepal for adventure.

We also see how deforestation has affected the land, and how the city of Kathmandu has grown at a phenomenal rate as peasants desert the unworkable land and flock to the city, which in turn has led to an increase in pollution and disease.

The local lamas, who recommend against human intervention to prevent further catastrophes, seem as clueless as the government, and Norbu spends a lot of his time now on education amongst the children.

Last week I showed the film about Mongolia and these are the only films I am showing from this series, as they deal with traditional Asian cultures, but there are many more in the series dealing with Jordan, Brazil, Namibia, Oman, Norway, Germany, France, Greece.