[R-G] Everest is melting

[Richard Menec]

http://www.countercurrents.org/relph060707.htm

The Independent, July 6, 2007

A message from the melting slopes of Everest

The sons of Hillary and Tenzing speak out about climate change: "Believe us, 
it's a reality"

By Cahal Milmo and Sam Relph

Fifty-four years after Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay became the 
first men to scale Everest, their sons have said the mountain is now so 
ravaged by climate change that they would no longer recognise it.

On the eve of the Live Earth concerts this weekend, Peter Hillary and 
Jamling Tenzing yesterday issued a timely warning that global warming is 
rapidly changing the face of the world's highest mountain and threatening 
the survival of billions of people who rely on its glaciers for drinking 
water.

The base camp where Sir Edmund and Norgay began their ascent is 40 metres 
lower than it was in 1953. The glacier on which it stands, and those around 
it, are melting at such a rate that scientists believe the mountain, whose 
Nepalese name, Qomolangma, means Mother of the World, could be barren rock 
by 2050.

Up to 40,000 Sherpas who live at the base of the Himalayas face devastation 
if vast new lakes formed by the melted ice burst and send a torrent of 
millions of tons of water down the slopes.

Mr Hillary, who has himself twice reached Everest's summit, said: "Climate 
change is happening. This is a fact. Base camp used to sit at 5,320 metres. 
This year it was at 5,280 metres because the ice is melting from the top and 
side. Base camp is sinking each year. For Sherpas living on Mount Everest 
this is something they can see every day but they can't do anything about it 
on their own."

The warning came as a survey revealed that most Britons remain unconvinced 
about the extent of climate change and that terrorism, crime, graffiti and 
even dog mess are more pressing issues for the UK. The Ipsos-Mori poll found 
that 56 per cent of people believe scientists are still debating whether 
human activity is contributing to climate change. In reality, there is 
virtual consensus that it is.

Just over half of people, 51 per cent, believe climate change will have 
little or no effect and more than one-third admitted they were taking no 
action to reduce their carbon emissions.

Speaking before the seven Live Earth concerts, which organisers hope will be 
a catalyst for action on global warming, Jamling Tenzing, who has also 
climbed Everest, said the mountain was serving as an early warning of the 
extent to which it is already changing the planet.

The glacier where Sir Edmund and Norgay pitched their base camp before 
eventually reaching the summit at 29,000ft on 29 May 1953 has retreated 
three miles in the past 20 years. Scientists believe that all glaciers in 
the Himalayas, which are between half a mile and more than three miles in 
length, will be reduced to small patches of ice within 50 years if trends 
continue.

Mr Tenzing said: "The glaciers have receded a great deal since my father's 
time. There are many things he wouldn't recognise today. The glacier on 
which base camp sits has melted to such a degree that it is now at a lower 
altitude. I think the whole face of the mountains is changing."

The glacial retreat presents a double peril for those who live in the 
Himalayas and the populations of India and China, where the water flowing 
from the mountains accounts for 40 per cent of the world's fresh water.

The rapid increase in the rate of glaciers melting - from 42 metres a year 
in the 40 years to 2001 to 74 metres a year in 2006 - has resulted in the 
formation of huge lakes in the space of a few years.

A United Nations study of the 9,000 glacial lakes in the Himalayas found 
that more than 200 are at risk of "outburst floods", unleashing thousands of 
cubic metres of water per second into an area where 40,000 people live. In 
1985, Lake Dig Tsho in the Everest region released 10 million cubic metres 
of water in three hours. It caused a 10-metre-high wall of water which swept 
away a power station, bridges, farmland, houses, livestock and people up to 
55 miles downstream. Scientists estimate that the most dangerous lakes today 
are up to 20 times bigger. One of those, Imja Tsho, did not exist 50 years 
ago and lies directly above the homes of 10,000 people.

The worst-case scenario according to Nepalese scientists is a cascade effect 
whereby one overflowing lake empties into another, starting a chain reaction 
which would kill thousands and wipe out agriculture for generations.

Peter Hillary said: "I've seen the result of glacial lakes bursting their 
banks and it's just catastrophic. It's like an atomic bomb has gone off. 
Everywhere is rubble. The floods of the past are unfortunately nothing 
compared with the size of what we are currently threatened with."

In the longer term, scientists believe the depletion of the glaciers will 
drastically reduce the flow of water into the nine major rivers fed by the 
Himalayan glaciers.

Defra recruits critic of Bush

An outspoken critic of President George Bush's approach to combating global 
warming has been appointed to advise the British Government on climate 
change.

Bob Watson was voted out of his job chairing the United Nations-sponsored 
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) five years ago after 
incurring the wrath of the Bush administration. He will take over as chief 
scientific adviser at the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural 
Affairs (Defra) in September. The appointment was approved by Gordon Brown.

His recruitment, a week after Mr Brown took over as Prime Minister, will be 
seen as further evidence the Government is trying to distance itself from Mr 
Bush. Last week, he caused consternation at the White House when he 
appointed Sir Mark Malloch Brown, a strong critic of US foreign policy, as 
minister for Africa, Asia and the United Nations.

Dr Watson, a British-born expert on atmospheric pollution, advised former US 
President Bill Clinton on the environment and worked at the World Bank 
before becoming the IPCC's chairman. The US began manoeuvring to remove him 
shortly after President Bush's inauguration in 2001. A year later, he was 
replaced by Rajendra Pachauri, an Indian scientist.

Environmental groups uncovered a memo from the US oil corporation 
ExxonMobil, a major contributor to Mr Bush's election campaign, asking the 
White House to unseat Dr Watson because he had an "aggressive agenda". At 
the time, Dr Watson acknowledged the US government's intervention was an 
"important factor" in the campaign to oust him.

A Defra spokeswoman said: "He was the unanimous choice out of all the 
candidates."

==============
***NOTICE: In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this
material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a
prior interest in receiving the included information for research and
educational purposes.***
==============