 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
| . |  |
. |
Global Warming Ravaging Mount Everest
London (AFP) Jul 06, 2007 Global warming is radically changing the face of Mount Everest, the sons of the men who first reached its summit 54 years ago said in an interview published Friday. The sons of Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay told British newspaper The Independent that their fathers would no longer recognise the world's highest mountain, saying the base camp is now 40 metres (132 feet) lower than it was 53 years ago. "Climate change is happening. This is a fact," Hillary's son Peter said. "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," said Peter Hillary, who himself has twice reached Everest's summit. "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," he added. The glacier where Hillary and Tenzing made their base camp before ascending the 8,848-metre (29,198-foot) summit on May 29, 1953 has retreated three miles (five kilometres) in the past 20 years, The Independent said. Scientists, it said, predict that all glaciers in the Himalayas, which range from half a mile to more than three miles long, could end up as small patches of ice within 50 years if global warming is not checked. "The glaciers have receded a great deal since my father's time," said Jamling Tenzing, who climbed Everest with Peter Hillary in 2002. "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," he said. Peter Hillary warned of devastating effects if glaciers continue to melt, form huge lakes and then burst their banks. "I've seen the result of glacial lakes bursting their banks and it's catastrophic," he was quoted as saying. "It's like an atomic bomb has gone off. Everywhere is rubble. The floods of the past are nothing compared with the size of what we are threatened with," he added.
related report Hundreds of thousands of devotees make the gruelling trek to the Himalayan Kashmir mountains each year to gaze at the ice formation, which occurs annually and is worshipped as a symbol of Shiva, the god of destruction. But by Monday, just the second day of the two-month pilgrimage, devotees only had a tiny stump of ice to look at compared to the towering form a few weeks earlier. Officials had said global warming might be to blame for the phallic-shaped formation's disappearance, before adding that irresponsible actions by pilgrims visiting the cave shrine before it officially opened could be responsible. "Huge pilgrim gatherings inside the cave also generate lots of heat, causing the ice to melt," said Ismail. Television footage aired Wednesday showed pilgrims and security force members hugging the stalagmite, posing with it for photos and scraping it to get "holy water." It also showed devotees lighting oil lamps and incense sticks near the 3.6-metre (12-foot) ice form. Newspaper reports said up to 50,000 devotees had visited the shrine before the pilgrimage's official start. The region's top Hindu cleric, Mahant Deependra Giri, said pilgrims should worship the ice form from a distance, according to Hindu scriptures. "It's sheer ignorance... to touch the ice form. They do it to show their faith. But it has surely resulted in disappointment for thousands of pilgrims who are proceeding towards the shrine," Giri said. "We've asked for the video from news channels. We'll look into the entire issue," said Arun Kumar, the chief executive officer of the Amarnath shrine board. Pilgrims were still pressing on with the trek despite the disappearance of the ice form, bad weather and fears of attack by Islamic militants battling New Delhi's rule in Kashmir. "For all devotees, the cave shrine is equally important," state government official Madan Mantoo said. Some 20,000 Hindus had already worshipped at the shrine, 3,800 metres (12,800 feet) above sea level, since Sunday. In previous years, the ice form remained in place until August, but last year it failed to form at all and officials controversially put an artificial one in its place. This year it melted two months early.
Source: Agence France-Presse Community Email This Article Comment On This Article Related Links Beyond the Ice Age
Ancient Arctic Ponds Drying Up
Montreal (AFP) Jul 04, 2007Ancient ponds in the Artic tundra in northern Canada are drying up and some will disappear in less than a quarter-century due to global warming, Canadian researchers report in a new study. "Using these data, we show that some high Arctic pond ecosystems, which represent the most common aquatic habitat in many polar regions, have desiccated as a consequence of climate change," says the study, published Tuesday in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. |
|
|
| The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2007 - SpaceDaily.AFP and UPI Wire Stories are copyright Agence France-Presse and United Press International. ESA Portal Reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement,agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by SpaceDaily on any Web page published or hosted by SpaceDaily. Privacy Statement |
