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Recent changes in climate and the environment over Mt. Everest region

Recent changes in climate and the environment over Mt. Everest region

Everest
Everest
Mount Everest North Face seen from the path to Tibet’s base camp. Credit: Luca Galuzzi/Wikipedia

Researchers from the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), and their collaborators, have compiled recent climate and environmental changes in Mt. Everest region.


Similar results were published in Earth-Science Reviews.

The study was based both on literature reviews and the latest data and modeling. It focused on the changes and current state of temperature, precipitation and glacial lakes, waterquality of rivers and lakes and atmospheric environment.

The researchers used historical temperature records that were reconstructed from ice rings and tree rings to determine that there was significant climate change in the Mt Everest region over the 20th century. “The Mt. “The Everest region has seen significant warming from 1960 to about 0.33 C/decade based on meteorological observations between 1961 and 2018, but the precipitation was relatively steady,” said Prof. Kang Shichang.

Researchers predicted that the Mt. Researchers predicted that Everest would show a warming trend in the future (during2006-2099), and that the warming rate in winteris higher than in summer under different scenarios for Representative Concentration Pathway4.5 and 8.5.

They also reported that Mt. They also reported that the current glacier areas in Mt.2This shows a significant shrinkage in the area between 1970s and 2010. The glacier retreat has resulted in significant increases in river runoff.

The area of glacial lake increased from 106.11km in the past to 106.11km.21990 to 133.36km2The number of glacial lake increased by 16.9% in 2018, from 1,275 lakes in 1990 to 1,490 now.

The team also found that 95 glacial lakes were present in the region, with potential risks. These included 17 lakes with high-risk areas and 59 lakes in Mt. Everest region.

All these findings indicate that the Mt. The Everest region shows its hydrological response to global warming. Prof. Kang stated that the trend could intensify in the coming decades, potentially threatening water resources security in the downstream region.”

Due to the remoteness of Mt. Due to Everest’s remote location and the absence of human activity, the atmosphere is relatively clean. However, researchers discovered that long-distance air pollution from South Asia, West Asia and Central Asia has had a negative impact on this pristine area. This has led to an increase in pollutants (such as carbon black) since the Industrial Revolution.

The Normalized Difference Vegetation Index, or NDVI, was also examined by the researchers in the Mt. Everest region. They discovered that NDVI showed an increasing trend between May and September, but that primary production did not change from 1982 to 2015.

The start of the vegetation growth season was delayed by 1.85 day and the end was moved by 0.54 day. The south slope’s end time changed slightly, but the starttime did NOT change.

They also pointed out that the lack of first-hand monitoring data for extremely high-altitude areas has limited our understanding of the multi-sphere interaction and processes in the Mt. Everest region.

“The establishment a long-term sustainable monitoring system for climate, ecology and environment in Mt. It is imperative to establish a long-term and sustainable monitoring system for climate, environment, and ecology in Mt. Prof. Kang stated that it will allow us to evaluate climate warming in detail and its effect on ecosystem, hydrology, and water resources in the region.


Glaciers in the Everest region thin at high altitudes


More information:
Shichang Kang and others, Warming and Thawing in the Mt. Everest region: A review on climate and environmental changes Earth-Science Reviews (2021). DOI: 10.1016/j.earscirev.2021.103911

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Chinese Academy of Sciences

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Recent climate and environmental changes over Mt. Everest region (2022, Feb. 18)
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