'Say It's Possible'

Terra Naomi. Photo: Photo: Courtesy of Terra Naomi

I am so pleased to make the following announcement: I will perform at the Mercy Corps climate change concert on December 7, in Kashmir, as part of my upcoming tour of India, which includes performances in Mumbai, Bangalore, Delhi and Srinagar.

When Mercy Corps approached me about performing my song, "Say It's Possible," as part of this event to raise awareness for climate change, I was honored and excited to take part in something so important.

This concert will coincide with the Copenhagen Climate Conference, and will hopefully draw some attention to one of the areas hit hardest by climate change.

As most of us already know, the areas most affected by climate change are the areas least responsible for the rapidly changing climate. They are parts of the world where people are already struggling, already living in difficult conditions, and these areas will continue to become increasingly challenging places to live as natural resources disappear. I was absolutely amazed to find out that the glaciers in Kashmir provide water to one-fifth of the world's population. That's a HUGE number.

In case you're looking for some facts, here you go:

• ActionAid reports that “the last 40 years have seen a reduction in water levels of almost all the streams and rivers in Kashmir by two-thirds.”
• An estimated "1.3 billion people across China, India, Nepal, Pakistan, Myanmar, Bhutan and Afghanistan rely on the waters flowing from the glaciers in the Himalayan region," reports the Earth Institute at Columbia University. That's about one-fifth of the world's population.
• Kashmir's glaciers are melting at an alarming rate — "endangering the livelihoods of two-thirds of the region’s nearly 10 million people engaged in agriculture, horticulture, livestock rearing and forestry," according to a study by Kashmir University’s geology and geophysics department.

It's frightening, and I'm really hoping that the Copenhagen conference will help motivate people to take this seriously and devote resources to finding a way to slow the damage we are doing to the environment.

And so I will lend my voice and take a trip into northern India, Kashmir, the source of so much of the world's water...
I leave for India in less than a week. I am excited and a little bit nervous. I know it will be an incredible journey, and I will learn so much, and grow as an artist and most importantly, a human. I want to be able to inspire other people and help the world in some small way. Music seems to be the most effective way for me to contribute and I feel so lucky to be able to do this.

I will post more in the coming days and look forward to meeting my new friends in India!!

xox
Terra
:)