The increasing human activity and growing temperature are major reasons for the increasing of the heat. The spot has also begun attracting significant amounts of tourists. The current base camp is situated at a height of 5364 meter and it attracted about 15000 people last year. A study from the Leeds University shows that the ice in the Glacier is thinning at a rate of 1m per year. At this rate, the condition will be devastating and become extremely risky for the travellers and trekkers. Taranath Adhikari, director of the Nepal tourism department said that a new location has been found for the new possible camp. The new camp will most likely be situated at a 200-400 meter lower location than the previous one.
The existing base camp is situated about 50 meters lower than the camp used by Tenzing Norgay in 1953. This shows that global warming is causing severe issues of melting. As ice is melting at a constant rate it is better to shift the camp now rather wait for more crevasses as Mr Adhilkari has stated.
Trekkers often stay in the base camp for a significantly longer time. They install cookers in kitchen spaces. The crevasses has been seen to have appeared during the day time although they freeze at night time. The stay could sometimes be two weeks to a month.
Nepal base camp is a favourite for many trekkers as there are more available resources. However, the atmosphere is changing. Mr Adhikari said that this relocation project is a process of adapting to the nature and it’s shifting behaviour.
Tshering Tenzing Sherpa, manager of base camp has stated that the shifting of the camp needs to happen within three to four months after which the site will be of no purpose. Mr Tshering Tenzing Sherpa also works for Sagarmatha pollution control committee. The new base camp will be ready from 2024 approximately.
Tags: atmosphere, Nepal, Everest, Everest Base Camp, global warming, ice melt
