Everest Ice & Glaciers Shrinking Fast

[hatrack]

Everest isn't the same mountain it was when Jim Whittaker became the first U.S. climber to summit the peak in 1963. The world's highest peak has been shedding snow and ice for the past 50 years, possibly due in part to global warming, new research says. (Take an Everest quiz.)
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New analyses show Mount Everest has lost significant snow and ice cover over the past half century. In nearby Sagarmatha National Park, glaciers have shrunk by 13 percent. Weather data reveal the larger Everest region has experienced warmer temperatures and less snowfall since the early 1990s, according to Sudeep Thakuri, a Ph.D. candidate at Italy's University of Milan who presented the research—which has yet to be published—on May 13 at the American Geophysical Union's Meeting of the Americas in Cancún, Mexico.

Snowlines in the national park have shifted upslope some 590 feet (180 meters), Thakuri said.

While Thakuri and his co-authors suspect that greenhouse gas-driven global warming is a factor in the Everest meltdown, Thakuri cautioned that their data have not established a firm link between the two.

While the glacier loss they report could reshape the famous face of the world's highest peak, a far larger and more serious issue accompanies glacier loss across the Himalaya. (Related: "Massive Hindu Pilgrimage Melting Sacred Glacier.&quot

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http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2013/05/130516-everest-shrinking-ice-glaciers-science-global-warming/

[patrice]

1. KICK

[riverwalker]

2. stunning

The towering ranges surrounding the Tibetan Plateau give rise to many of Asia's great rivers—including the Yangtze, Yellow, Mekong, and Ganges. These rivers provide critical water for as many as two billion people—almost one-third of Earth's population.