Mount Everest is becoming increasingly more treacherous, thanks to global warming. Apa, a 49-year-old Nepalese Sherpa who recently made the news for his 20th Everest ascent, told the Telegraph that glacial melting has made gaining traction more difficult on the trail.
“The rising temperature on the mountains has melted much ice and snow on the trail to the summit. It is difficult for climbers to use their crampons on the rocky surfaces,” said Apa.
Deep crevasses have also been exposed which pose major threat. Not only could climbers easily fall into them, but they face the risk of being carried away by what experts call “outburst floods.”
Outburst flooding, according to Steve Edwards—professor and earth scientist at the University College London—is when “the meltwater tops the bank of sediment left behind by the glacier during a period of intense melting and crashes down the river valley, destroying everything in its path.”
In a recent report, Edwards and his colleagues stressed the rate at which the Himalayan glaciers are melting. At an average of 10–60 meters each year, the Himalayas are disappearing much faster than many around the world.
[Via: The Telegraph]
[Photo via: Rupert-Taylor-Price]
