Mt. Everest Climate Crisis

http://www.news.com.au/couriermail/story/0,20797,21824677-952,00.html?from=public_rss
Pictures at the link. Unbelievable.

Mt Everest climate crisis
Nicola Boden


A NEW picture of Mt Everest reveals the devastating effects of climate change on one of the world's most ecologically sensitive and important regions.

The image, taken last month, portrays a dramatically different landscape to shots taken in the 1960s. In a picture taken in 1968, the Middle Rongbuk glacier skirts through the mountain valley with the peaks above thickly covered with snow.

But almost exactly the same shot taken this year by a Greenpeace team reveals much barer peaks and a scarcely visible glacier.

And the environmental pressure group is in no doubt that the radical changes to the area are due to the effects of climate change.

"The degradation of the Everest environment and glacial retreat is, Greenpeace believes, a direct result of climate change," a spokeswoman said.

A team travelled to Everest last month to see the Middle Rongbuk glacier and compare its current state to how it was according to pictures taken in 1968.

But the rapid deterioration and collapse of the mountainside meant the group could not even reach the same point the original photo was taken from to make an exact comparison.

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