As the mountaineering community prepares to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the conquest of Mount Everest, there is growing concern about temperatures rising, glaciers and snow melting, and weather getting harsh and unpredictable on the world’s tallest mountain.
Since the 8,849-metre (29,032-foot) mountain peak was first scaled by New Zealander Edmund Hillary and his Sherpa guide Tenzing Norgay on May 29, 1953, thousands of climbers have reached the peak and hundreds have died.
The deteriorating conditions on Everest are raising concerns for the mountaineering community and the people whose livelihoods depend on the flow of visitors.
Nepal’s Sherpa community, who grew up on the foothills of the snow-covered mountain they worship as the mother of the world, is the most startled.
“The effects of climate change are hitting not just the fishes of Antarctica, the whales or the penguins, but it’s having a direct impact on the Himalayan mountains and the people there,” said Ang Tshering, a prominent Sherpa who has been campaigning for years to save the Himalayan peaks and surrounding areas from the effects of global warming.
Almost every year, he and his Asian Trekking agency organise a cleaning expedition in which clients and guides alike bring down rubbish left by previous Everest climbing parties.
2023-05-26 04:30:04 Climbers to mark 70 years of Everest summit amid climate concerns
Article from www.aljazeera.com