Why Nepal is not relocating the Everest base camp despite growing climate change threat

Numerous climbers arrive at Mount Everest’s base camp each year with the aim of reaching the top with the assistance of Sherpa guides who are familiar with the mountain properly. Nepal is reportedly considering moving the base camp elsewhere, but sherpas and climbing companies are vehemently opposed to the idea. This is because the Himalayan glaciers are melting due to climate change, and the routes up the world’s tallest peak are choked with people. The south base camp, which is located on the rapidly receding Khumbu glacier, has previously been claimed to be risky for climbers due to human activities and climate change. Let’s take a closer look. Significant opposition The current Mount Everest base is 5,364 metres (17,598 feet) above sea level. The world’s tallest mountain base was intended to be relocated 200 to 400 metres below. Sherpa leaders assert that the proposal is not only impractical but that the authorities have also failed to come up with a feasible alternative. According to BBC, Mingma Sherpa, head of Khumbu Pasanglhamu, a rural municipality that includes the base camp and most of the Everest region, “I have come across not even a single person in our community who supports the idea of moving the Everest base camp.”

Happy International Everest Day, 2023!🙏 pic.twitter.com/8vGLzSbvog

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“It has been there for the previous 70 years; why should they relocate it now?” said Ang Norbu Sherpa, head of the Nepal National Mountain Guides Association, adding, “And even if they wanted to, where is the study on a viable alternative?” Sudan Kirati, Nepal’s recently appointed tourism minister, claimed that the matter was not urgent. “I have seen no interest or concern from any quarter on the issue of moving the base camp,” he claimed. According to the BBC, the proposal of moving the Everest base camp was rejected by more than 95 per cent of delegates at a recent consultation meeting between the government and the mountaineering business, thus killing the idea in the short term. Also read: How Mount Everest has been preserving people’s germs from coughs and sneezes The risk is growing… The Khumbu glacier, like many others in the Himalayas, is melting quickly as a result of climate change, making the area unsafe for climbers. The sherpas’ livelihoods as well as their sense of kinship with the mountain are at risk because the glacier near base camp thinned at a pace of one metre every year, according to a 2018 study by Leeds University researchers.

Seventy years have passed since Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay stood atop the world, conquering the formidable summit of Mt Everest (8848.86 m) on this day, 29.05.1953, 11:30 NPT.

The conquest of Mt Everest was not just an individual triumph; it represented the culmination of… pic.twitter.com/m24sMZlinj

— Everest Today (@EverestToday) May 29, 2023

Additionally, field research revealed that the world’s tallest glacier’s ponds and lakes were merging and growing, posing new difficulties for climbers, reported BBC. Professor Bryn Hubbard of Aberystwyth University told the outlet, “As the ice melts, beneath the rocky debris, the surface becomes more variable, encouraging the formation of surface ponds that gradually coalesce to form large lakes.” Shifting the base would make more sense, according to experts, as the current base may see more avalanches, storms, ice and rockfalls in the future. Base camp is crammed with people Although there are differences of opinion on the base’s potential relocation, practically everyone can agree that it is becoming too crowded. 478 Everest climbing permits were given during this climbing season, which is a record, according to Wion. It implies that more than 1,500 people, including the support staff, would be using the base. The size of the base camp has doubled in recent years, claims Dambar Parajuli, head of Expedition Operators’ Association Nepal. The region was also becoming overrun by needless luxury services, including massage parlours, so he added that there weren’t any hard rules about what was allowed and what wasn’t at the base camp.

Pasang Yangjee Sherpa, an anthropologist who works at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada, claims that while Nepal has welcomed a growing swarm of tourists every year, it has paid a price for it. She said in an Al Jazeera podcast from last year that sherpa climbers claimed the mountain changed every time they returned. Research on the Sherpa diaspora and human aspects of climate change was conducted by Yangjee Sherpa. It’s happening right before our eyes, and it’s difficult to ignore and it’s as important as it can be, she said. “And I’m speaking of the sherpa climbers who go there every season, that is twice a year, and every season they’re going up and down the mountain several times… They’re saying that every time they go back. the mountain looks different. So where there used to be ice last year, there’s water; where there used to be hard snow, now it’s soft snow.” According to Yuba Raj Khatiwada, the director of Nepal’s tourism bureau, the high number of fatalities on Mount Everest this year is primarily due to a changing climate. He previously told Bloomberg that “the death rate is quite high this season because of the climate and climate change.” There isn’t another explanation. Despite our best efforts, mountaineering still carries some danger.

Canadian dies on #Everest taking death toll to 12, five still missing. More: https://t.co/qOabS3uVNL #Everest70 #Everest2023 pic.twitter.com/zSJJr3yz3a

— Everest Today (@EverestToday) May 26, 2023

Climate change was “having a big impact in the mountains,” he told The Guardian, adding, “In the past, we have seen that not all of the areas [over which] modern base camp stretches are safe,” he declared. “Some areas are vulnerable to avalanches from the surrounding terrain and gravitational mass movement.” With inputs from agencies Read all the  Latest News ,  Trending News ,  Cricket News ,  Bollywood News ,  India News  and  Entertainment News  here. Follow us on  Facebook,  Twitter and  Instagram.