Mount Everest Base Camp Relocating From the Khumbu Glacier Due to Climate Change and Human Activity
The glacier that took 2,000 years to form is now melting away.
On June 17th, Nepal announced that it is preparing to move the Everest base camp to a lower altitude because global warming and human activity are making it unsafe for climbers to use.
The camp, currently situated at an elevation of 5,364 meters (17,598 feet) on the thinning Khumbu glacier, is used by approximately 1,500 climbers during the spring climbing season which generally lasts from April to May. Meltwater is currently destabilizing the glacier and is creating crevasses at the base camp which climbers note can sometimes appear as quickly as overnight. These findings prompted the move, which will situate the new base camp 200–400 meters lower than the current camp.
Climate change’s impact on Everest
In 2017, a study by the University of Leeds found that the Khumbu glacier has a minimum ice temperature of only -3.3 degrees Celsius. Even the coldest ice in the glacier was found to be a “full 2 degrees Celsius warmer than the mean annual air temperature”. Comparatively, glaciers in temperate locations (occurring at middle latitudes) will have ice temperatures at or close to 0 degrees Celsius, and glaciers that make up the Antarctic ice sheet may have ice temperatures as cold as -40 to -60 degrees Celsius. While Nepal is located at a subtropical latitude in the northern hemisphere which would support warmer glacial temperatures, the average air temperatures of Nepal’s highest mountains are sub-zero, which should place its glacial temperatures much lower than what they currently are.
Additionally, a more recent study by the University of Leeds in 2018 focusing on the area of the Khumbu glacier around the base camp found that it was thinning at a rate of 1 meter per year due to climate change. This study also found that the glacier was losing 9.5 million cubic meters of water annually, which has contributed to the formation of a stream in the middle of the base camp. The risk presented by the melting glacier also includes increased rock falls and moving ice.
More generally, a study published in the Nature Portfolio Journal Climate and Atmospheric Science in February of this year found that Everest’s South Col Glacier has experienced 55 meters of thinning in 25 years. This thinning rate is over 80 times faster than the 2,000 years it took to form the ice. The overall thinning of Everest’s glaciers caused by global warming is due to locations at higher altitudes experiencing greater warming conditions compared with locations found at lower altitudes.
Human’s impact on Everest
Climate change in the form of global warming is not the only threat to the glacier. Human activity has also been found to contribute to the problem.
With around 1,500 people using the base camp every climbing season, it was found that 4,000 liters of urine were produced at the base camp each day and that the fuels used for cooking and warming, such as kerosene and gas, were both impacting the glacier negatively.
Furthermore, during the time that climbers are living on the mountain in preparation for their ascent, they produce on average 18 pounds of trash, the majority of which is left on the mountain.
The necessary cleanup efforts around the base camp have been extensive, with a group of climbers spending 47 days collecting 2.2 tons of garbage from the area. Incentives for climbers to pack out the waste they produce were initiated in 2014. Anyone visiting Mount Everest has to pay a deposit of $4,000 that gets returned to them if they return from their expedition with 18 pounds of trash.
A study conducted through the 2019 National Geographic and Rolex Perpetual Planet Everest Expedition including scientists from the Climate Change Institute at the University of Maine, found that microplastic pollution on Everest is a “direct result of increased tourism and waste accumulation”. Of this waste, a large percentage is made up of non-biodegradable plastic, which means that it will never break down naturally. When microplastics are deposited on snow, they reduce the surface albedo (reflectivity) and absorb solar radiation, thus causing snow and ice to melt quicker. While it is currently unknown the exact impact microplastics have on the rate of melting glacier ice, this pollution may be contributing to the increased melting rate of the Khumbu glacier.
The future of Everest’s base camp
Currently, the Khumbu glacier remains stable enough to continue to serve as Everest’s base camp for another 3–4 years. However, it’s expected that it could be moved as soon as 2024. Consultations will be undertaken with the local communities to ensure that the location of the new base camp adheres to and respects their culture.
