Scientists warn that the highest glacier on Mount Everest is rapidly melting due to climate change.
An unprecedented study has found that Mount Everest’s highest glacier is losing ice about 80 times faster than it took to form.
Scientists monitored the South Col Glacier, which sits almost 8,000 meters above sea level, for signs of climate-related ice loss.
The team’s report was published February 3 in the journal NPJ Climate and Atmospheric Science.
According to the study, the ice that took 2,000 years to form has almost completely melted since the 1990s.
Data now suggests that the glacier is losing several decades of ice accumulation each year.
“This study answers one of the big questions raised by our expedition: whether the highest glaciers on the planet are affected by climate change of human origin”, explains Paul Mayewski, co-author of the study, glaciologist and director of the Climate Change Institute from the University of Maine. “The answer is a resounding yes, and especially since the late 1990s,” says Mayewski.
According to the study’s authors, the rapid decline of the glacier could have a major impact on the mountain and its surroundings.
It could trigger more avalanches on Everest and make the terrain more treacherous for climbers by exposing more bedrock.
The position of the South Col Glacier at the top of the world suggests that no ice mass on Earth is safe from climate change.
Experts urge that future research focus on how widespread these melting trends are among the world’s tallest glaciers.
