I ONLY WISH GREENHOUSE GASES NEEDED visas and passports," Bhutan's Prime Minister Lotay Tshering lamented to Newsweek in an interview in the highest country on earth.
Mountainous and heavily forested Bhutan has been called the first carbon negative country, meaning that it takes in more of the carbon dioxide that fuels global warming than its limited industry pumps out. But its location in the Himalayas exposes it all the more to the impact of climate change resulting from the emissions of other countries.
While low-lying nations are often seen as early victims of climate change as a result of rising seas, in Bhutan it is the accelerating pace with which glaciers are melting that is a problem. The lakes they are feeding threaten to burst and cause flash flooding that can be catastrophic for Bhutan's people and its agriculture. Steep slopes in the country, which has an average altitude of nearly 11,000 feet, make it prone to landslides during heavy rainfall-with the instability potentially exacerbated by earthquakes.
"We are challenged with a lot of natural disasters that come in and surprise us," Tshering said.
The natural elements are far from the only challenges in Bhutan, which faces one of the most intricate geopolitical balancing acts anywhere given its location sandwiched between the world's most populous countries and increasing rivals-India to the south and China to the north.
Friendly with India, with which it does well over 80 percent of its trade, Bhutan is locked in border negotiations with China, which claims a swathe of the country of about 775,000 people-a little more than the population of Seattle. Although Bhutan has no formal ties with the United States, the U.S. State Department says the two countries have warm, informal relations.
This story is from the {{IssueName}} edition of {{MagazineName}}.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the {{IssueName}} edition of {{MagazineName}}.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
Can Alternative Therapies Treat Cancer?
Doctor and breast cancer survivor Liz O'Riordan addresses misinformation around managing the disease
Falling for Romance
A new book, Nora Ephron at the Movies, celebrates the writer/director best known for her iconic rom-coms and strong female characters
Cracking the Norse Code
Walrus DNA has shown that Vikings were likely the first to have encountered Indigenous North Americans
Monumental Shift
The discovery of 165-million-year-old crystals Easter Island has upended the longheld notion of how the Earth's \"conveyor belt\" moves
'OUR FOREIGN POLICY AND DOMESTIC REFORMS ARE TWO SIDES OF THE SAME COIN'
It is a well-known fact across the globe that the North Korean regime is irrational and unpredictable, but we have been consistent in strengthening our defense posture against the threat from North Korea since the Korean War, and I believe that their conventional capability is much inferior to that of the Korean military.
'They Read My Eulogy As I Lay in an Open Grave'
Like Paris Hilton, Natasia Pelowski claims she was subjected to abuse at a teenage therapy program
Russian Economy Faces 'Burnout
Vladimir Putin admits difficulties” as the country’s key interest rate reaches a historic high
China's 'Silent Chemical War'
The U.S. must investigate Beijing's role in the manufacturing of fentanyl that is killing Americans, says one mom whose daughter died after accidentally taking the illicit substance
HARSH HEADWINDS
President Yoon Suk Yeol's BATTLE to reform a South Korea beset with structural problems under the specter of an increasingly aggressive neighbor to THE NORTH
Bridget Everett
BRIDGET EVERETT NEVER THOUGHT SHE'D BE THE LEAD OF A TV SHOW. \"I come from the downtown world in New York, a cabaret singer, and these things just don't happen, you don't find yourself with three seasons of HBO.