Nepal to move Everest base camp from melting glacier

Image source, Getty Images

The Everest base camp is being moved because of global warming and human activity.

The camp can accommodate up to 1,500 people in the spring climbing season.

There is no year-round ice at the lower altitude where the new site is going to be found.

Climbers say crevasses are showing up at base camp while they sleep.

The director general of Nepal's tourism department said that they would soon begin consultation with all stakeholders.

It's about adapting to the changes we are seeing at the base camp and it's essential for the viability of the business itself.

The camp is located at an altitude of 5,368m. The new one will be lower.

Nepal's government formed a committee to help and monitor mountaineers in the Everest region.

Scientists have found that the glaciers in the Himalayas are melting due to global warming.

The study showed that the glacier was losing water at a rate of 1m per year and that the segment close to base camp was losing water at a rate of 1m per year.

The base camp area of the glacier has a thin coating of rocks and boulder debris that makes it thinner than other parts.

Most of the glacier is covered by this rocky debris, but there are areas of exposed ice called ice cliffs, and it is the melting of the ice cliffs that most destabilises the glacier.

When ice cliffs melt, the debris of boulder and rocks that are on the top of the ice cliffs fall and create water bodies.

Increased rock falls and movement of melt-water on the surface of the glaciers can be dangerous.

A stream in the middle of the base camp has been growing every year, according to mountaineers.

The cracks and crevasses on the glacier are getting more frequent.

During the spring climbing season, which lasts from March to the end of May, crevasses appear at places where we sleep.

Image source, World Vlog Challenge

Many of us have a chilling experience in the morning that could have beenfalled into them in the night. It is risky to have cracks on the ground.

The manager of the Everest base camp echoed that message.

Loud noises can be heard when ice moves or rocks fall. Before setting up a tent at the base camp it was necessary to flatten the rocky surface of the ice to make it easier to build a tent.

The space used to bulge up after a couple of weeks. He said that it's happening almost every week.

The presence of so many people at the base camp is making the problem worse, according to a member of the committee that recommended the base camp move.

The base camp has 4,000 liters of urine per day.

The glacier's ice will be impacted by the huge amount of fuels we burn there for cooking and heating.

Adrian Ballinger predicted that there will be more rock falls and ice falls in the area of the current base camp in the future.

Since it can be avoided, this should be unacceptable.

The main disadvantage was that a camp lower down the mountain added to the length of the climb from base camp to camp one.

The number of climbers starting in China is increasing.

The base camp site can continue to serve its purpose for another three to four years, even though it has had some problems, according to Mr. Sherpa of the SPCC.

Nepali officials say the move may take place by the year 2024.

"We have assessed the technical and environmental aspects of the base camp, but before we relocate it we will have to discuss this with local communities, considering other aspects like their culture."

We will discuss it with everyone.