Human urine responsible for tons of Mount Everest ice melt: Study
Human urine responsible for tons of Mount Everest ice melt: Study
(NewsNation) — Human urine left at Everest Base Camp is enough to melt more than 150 tons of ice and snow, according to a new study.
Researchers examined human activity on the Khumbu Glacier, where Everest Base Camp is located, during the 2023 spring climbing season.
Their findings, published in the journal Regional Environmental Change, suggest that activity at the camp generated enough heat to melt nearly 5,000 tons of snow and ice.
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Of that total, scientists estimated that urine alone contributed to the melting of about 155 tons of ice and snow.
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Snapshot taken from a video shows a DJI drone flying over Khumbu Icefall during a delivery test on Mount Qomolangma from the Nepali side, April 30, 2024. DJI has successfully completed the first-ever drone delivery tests on Mount Qomolangma from the Nepali side, paving the way for facilitating high-altitude mountaineering, emergency rescue and environmental protection operations, the Chinese drone maker announced Wednesday. A DJI FlyCart 30 was used in the April tests, during which three oxygen bottles and 1.5 kg of other supplies were flown from the Base Camp (at an altitude of 5,364 meters) to Camp 1 (at about 6,000 meters) of the world’s highest peak, and trash was carried down on the return trip. (Photo by Xinhua via Getty Images)
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This photograph taken on May 3, 2024 shows mountaineers at the Khumbu Glacier during their ascend to Mount Everest’s summit, in Nepal. A 54-year-old Nepalese climber known as “Everest Man” reached the peak of the world’s highest mountain for a record 30th time on May 22, 2024, three decades after his first summit. (Photo by Tsering Pemba Sherpa / AFP via Getty Images)
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GORAKSEHP, NEPAL – OCTOBER 12: A crow flies in the sky against the Sagarmatha mountain range; a small blue trash bin has been left of the edge of the Khumbu glacier on October 12, 2024 in Gorakshep, Sagarmatha Region, Nepal. The growing popularity of trekking in Nepal has resulted in various forms of pollution spoiling the fragile ecosystem. Gorakshep is the last human settlement on the Nepal side before trekkers arrive at Everest Base Camp just 3.5km away. Here, waste management issues due to trekking tourism are apparent with plastic bottles and debris from lodges and restaurants dumped just meters from the town centre. Early in the autumn trekking season, Everest Base Camp itself also shows signs of waste mismanagement. (Photo by Mailee Osten-Tan/Getty Images)
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GORAKSEHP, NEPAL – OCTOBER 12: A view of Gorakshep with the Khumbu glacier on the right on October 12, 2024 in Gorakshep, Sagarmatha Region, Nepal. The growing popularity of trekking in Nepal has resulted in various forms of pollution spoiling the fragile ecosystem. Gorakshep is the last human settlement on the Nepal side before trekkers arrive at Everest Base Camp just 3.5km away. Here, waste management issues due to trekking tourism are apparent with plastic bottles and debris from lodges and restaurants dumped just meters from the town centre. Early in the autumn trekking season, Everest Base Camp itself also shows signs of waste mismanagement. (Photo by Mailee Osten-Tan/Getty Images)
The study did not account for additional heat generated by helicopters or by climbers themselves, meaning the overall impact of human activity could be even greater.
Mount Everest, known as Qomolangma in China, sits on the border of Nepal and China. Everest Base Camp on the Khumbu Glacier is located on the Nepali side of the mountain.
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