Welcome to a terrifying new climate era

The Bhotekoshi crisis must be recognised as a clear signal that we have entered a new era in our rapidly warming world.

On a sunny day, as you fly from Lhasa to Kathmandu, crossing the world’s highest range of snow-capped mountains, the vast alpine world of jagged rocky peaks and endless snow-covered highlands falls away in mere minutes, plunging like a vertical wall into lush green hills, cascading terraced farms, and winding narrow river valleys. By the time the plane approaches Kathmandu, you have traversed one of the planet’s most breathtaking transitions, which has long shaped two starkly contrasting worlds: the highlands of the cold, arid Tibetan Plateau to the north, and the warm, fertile Gangetic plains to the south, each nurturing its own civilisation within the constraints of its natural environment.