SOURCE :- SIASAT NEWS
Kathmandu: Human urine is melting a glacier near Mount Everest in the Himalayan region, according to a new study that has published worrying findings on global climate change.
The study in the Regional Environmental Change analysed the human footprint at Everest Base Camp and found that heat generated by human urine, among other activities, is massively contributing to the faster melting of the Khumbu Glacier.
The increasing number of climbers, trekkers, and support staff, particularly at the campsite area, has intensified environmental impacts on the Khumbu Glacier, the research stated.
Focusing on global climate change, local fossil fuel consumption, and human urinary discharge, and using field data from spring 2023, the study recorded that the total heat energy released from these activities was an estimated 849,174 ± 179,774 megajoules. The energy, it said, is enough to melt approximately 2,492 ± 528 tonnes of glacier ice and snow.
Temperature increase at the Base Camp
Over the past few decades, Everest has seen human activity steadily rise, and along with global climate change, it has created added pressure on an already vulnerable glacier.
It was also found that the Base Camp surface temperature increased by 0.28 degrees Celsius per year. Given the increased activity at the Base Camp around climbing season, the findings show that human-related factors have significantly contributed to the glacier melt.
The study results show that the rise in temperature at the Everest Base Camp is nearly twice the rate of warming recorded on the surface of the Khumbu Glacier and 15 per cent higher than the increase documented in debris-covered terrain north of Base Camp.
The research, while publishing concerning findings, has suggested possibly moving the base camp to locations southwest of the current base camp if relocation becomes a necessity.
SOURCE : SIASAT
