20/12/2020
Microplastics at the summit of Everest underscore humanity’s growing influence in the Hindu Kush Himalaya
In February 2020, the Nepali government set out plans to clear 35,000 kg of rubbish from Everest and five other peaks in the HKH. The move drew criticism for its chosen workforce, however: unskilled army members were selected over nimble and experienced local Sherpas. In 2019, following the army’s clearance of 10,000 kg of rubbish, Kami Rita Sherpa told BBC Nepali: ‘They collected garbage from lower altitudes. They should instead mobilise Sherpas to clean up garbage from higher elevations.’
https://geographical.co.uk/nature/climate/item/3904-microplastics-at-the-summit-of-everest-underscore-humanity-s-growing-influence-in-the-hindu-kush-himalaya
The Sagarmatha Pollution Control Committee, a Buddhist Sherpa-led operation, manage waste throughout the region, educating climbers and visitors on how to prevent pollution in respect of sacred tradition. Preventing waste is no easy feat, however. Expeditions require climbers to spend around two months acclimating to the altitude, during which time individuals are estimated to produce around nine kilograms of rubbish – much of it from life-saving provisions. Sherpas often risk their lives bringing down used oxygen tanks and tents.
During an expedition between April and May 2019, the team collected a series of snow, glacial melt water and river samples. Starting from base camp, their efforts stretched to the 8,440-metre elevation of ‘the Balcony’. They found that microplastic over 30 μm is ubiquitous throughout the Everest region, even at the summit. Polyester (56 per cent) was the most abundant polymer found, followed by acrylic (31 per cent), nylon (9 per cent) and polypropylene (5 per cent). They suspect that fibrous microplastics originated from high performance clothing used by climbers. This is likely, they say, given that a single kilogram of polyester clothing can shed up to 2.8 million microplastic fibres per day. The team are calling on performance clothing manufacturers – who make clothes designed to be used in remote and sensitive environments – to engineer materials that limit microplastic fibre shedding.
https://geographical.co.uk/nature/climate/item/3904-microplastics-at-the-summit-of-everest-underscore-humanity-s-growing-influence-in-the-hindu-kush-himalaya
Microplastic contamination has been found at Everest. Environmental and climate change and pollution threaten the Hindu Kush Himalaya
