Severance

She is a young Tibetan girl with snow lotus and cherry blossoms.

Tibet is one of the front line of the global climate crisis: it’s warming three times faster than the rest of the earth. Known as the Earth’s Third Pole, Tibet holds the largest store of fresh water outside the Arctics, providing water for one fifth of the global population. Like the Arctic, Tibet is experiencing profound climate change impacts. China’s hydro-damming and mineral extraction in Tibet, combined with climate change, threaten to destroy Tibet’s unique ecosystems. In the climate crisis eight billion tons of ice in Tibet are being lost every year as Tibet is in a meltdown. Only drastic action will stop at least two-thirds of Himalayan glaciers being lost.

The snow lotus, the only herbaceous plant living above 3,500 meters, is facing extinction as a result of global warming and rising demand for the plant from pharmacy and health products industries.

The title has a dual meaning: the Tibetan Buddhist severance practice of Chod, as well as the right of the Tibetan people to regain their independence from China.