Human Urine and Fuel Are Melting the Glacier Beneath Everest Base Camp
Researchers found fuel use caused 94% of modeled human-caused melt at Base Camp, while urine added an estimated 154 tons of ice loss.
8 Articles
8 Articles
In recent days, shocking information has been circulating on social media claiming that the urine of thousands of climbers and support staff at Everest Base Camp is contributing to the melting of the Khumbu glacier. Is this information exaggerated?
Mass tourism on Everest can accelerate the destruction of glaciers because of the different kinds of waste that the mountain visitors leave, and researchers have estimated that human activity affects snow cover, and scientific work is published in Springer Nature.
An international research team analyzed the Khumbu Glacier on the Nepal side of the Himalayas, home to the base camp of Mount Everest, the world's highest mountain. It found that mountaineer activity - including heat from burning fuel and urinating on the glacier - melts about 2,500 tons of ice and snow each season.
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