CLIMBING EVEREST IN A TIME OF CLIMATE CHANGE

Climate Change Likely to Make Everest Even Riskier

Katy Daigle, April 23, 2014 (ABC News)

Editor's note: A new avalanche was reported at Everest as this piece was being posted. There have so far been no reports of new fatalities.

“Climbing to the roof of the world is becoming less predictable and possibly more dangerous…as climate change brings warmer temperatures that may eat through the ice and snow on Mount Everest…While it is impossible to link any single event [liker the sudden ice avalanche that killed 16 Sherpa guides] to long-term changes in the global climate, scientists say the future will likely hold more such dangers in high-altitude regions…Avalanches of snow, rock or ice could increase. Climbing and trekking terrains would become unsteady. Glaciers may be more unpredictable. Storms will become more erratic, and the Himalayas in particular could see more snow as warming oceans send more moisture into the air for the annual Indian monsoon that showers the 2,400-kilometer (1,500-mile) mountain range…[S]cientists say mountaineers should assume that everything is now in flux…[As global temperatures have gone up 0.75 degrees C (1.4 degrees F) in the last century,] studies show the Himalayas warming at a rate up to three times as high…” click here for more

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