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According to a recent study, the glaciers around Mount Everest are significantly changing due to the damaging effects of climate change.
The researchers who conducted the study said that if global warming continues as it is, by the end of the century nothing will remain of the Everest glaciers.
The findings of the new study were published in the scientific journal The Cryopshere.
If the temperatures keep increasing Nepal’s Everest regions will melt completely, the authors of the study warn.
One of the authors of the new study, Joseph Shea, an expert in glaciers and hydrology at the International Center for Integrated Mountain Development in Nepal, explained that no one expected the glaciers to be melting at such a large scale.
Shea added that the numbers revealed by the study are alarming.
The researchers who conducted the study found that if the greenhouse gas emissions continue at a moderate pace it could lead to an approximately 70% loss of the glaciers that surround Mount Everest.
However, the most frightening scenario would be that the greenhouse gas emissions remain at the current level. This would have disastrous results because it means that 99% of Everest glaciers will melt away.
In order to come to this alarming conclusion, the scientists led by Dr. Shea used a computer model to simulate how the glaciers would melt if the global warming continues as it is at the moment.
The researchers also simulated the accumulation and redistribution to come up with the exact results of what would happen with the Everest glaciers.
The computer model was customized by the scientists with data collected from the field and various remote observations.
Other factors included were the temperatures and precipitation that has been collected during the past 50 years from the basin Dudh Koshi.
According to the experts, the Dudh Koshi basin consists of Mount Everest and several others of the highest mountains in the world.
Dr. Shea explained that given the increase in temperatures because of global warming, the future of the Everest glaciers is very bleak. It would result in a massive glacier loss if temperatures keep increasing.
The computer model used by Shea and his team also considered how much of the glaciers’ mass comes from snowfall; they also took into consideration the way the recurrent downward movement redistributes the mass.
The scientists applied the computer mode to eight different future climate scenarios.
Image Source: peakfreaks
