Mount Everest, the world’s tallest mountain, may lose its highest glacier by the middle of this century as the 2,000-year-old ice cap thinning at an alarming rate.
In the latest report, the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) noted that Everest has lost ice significantly since the late 1990s.
The report estimates that the ice of the South Cole glacier, located at 8,020 metres above sea level, is thinning at a rate of almost two metres per year.
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The study was based on data from a 10-metre-long ice core taken from South Col Glacier (on the Nepalese side of Everest) at a height of 8,020 metres. Meteorological observations from two of the highest automatic weather stations in the world, located on the southern slopes of Everest at 7,945 meters and 8,430 meters respectively, were also used.
Radiocarbon dating was used by the researchers to estimate the glacier’s age as 2,000 years.
According to the researchers, the highest glacier could disappear by the middle of this century. It took 2,000 years for this thickness of ice to form, but the rate of ice loss measured is more than 80 times faster.
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Nature Portfolio published an article recently reporting an alarming trend in the thinning of Everest’s ice.
Scientists from eight countries, including 17 from Nepal, were part of the multidisciplinary team. Three of the co-authors of the study were affiliated with the ICIMOD.
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“The long-term effect on the availability and stability of these water towers which will impact downstream communities is of major concern,” the ICIMOD said in the statement.
Glaciers in the Himalayas contribute significantly to water supplies for millions of people.
Researchers suspect that climate change might have triggered the change in Everest’s ice cover.
(With inputs from agencies)
