National Geographic and Rolex Perpetual Planet Everest Expedition 2019 hosted a journey to Mount Everest with 34 international scientists, mainly Nepalis, in the early summer of 2019. The article was published in Journal One Earth, highlighting the climatic change impacts on human occupation on Mount Everest. The discussion subject included glacier loss, precipitation changes, and the presence of microplastics over the mountains.
The contemporary pictures were taken of Mount Everest clearly showed the drastic changes in the ice caps’ drastic changes over the past six decades. King reported,“ the thickness of the glacier reduced more than 100 m since 1960, which constantly accelerated over the past six decades.” The scientist created a time series glacier mass change chart using modern and satellite images over 56 years to analyze the findings.
These scientists established a baseline for future measurements to analyze and predict the future of water flow, which is of utmost importance for surrounding inhabitants. Furthermore, the team revealed, “The glacier changes showed a positive outlook for the mountain climbers.” Since the 20th century, the rising temperature has led to an increase in the air pressure towards the top. Thus, this allowed the climbers to move towards the top without carrying supplemental oxygen.
Elvin said, “This change in oxygen availability opens new opportunities for the inhabitants and climbers.”
The team measured the total supplemental oxygen used in the summit, which facilitated them to devise better ways to carry scientific equipment and opt for feasible en route to the different sample collection locations.
At the end of the expedition, scientists reported, “the journey was fruitful indeed; we received various types of information about the local communities in the mountain range and wise guidance from the high climbing Sherpas. They were the key support in the success of the expedition, who showed the true meaning of a supporting leader.”
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