Researchers say the Mount Everest is rapidly shedding its cloak of snow with temperatures rising and snowfall declining in the region.
Rising temperatures and melting snow are two phenomena that have resulted from extensive global warming. Taking a new look at the Mount Everest region and its surrounding national parks, researchers from the University of Milan have found that the region is slowing losing its cloak of snow with temperatures rising and snowfall declining in the area.
The new findings will be presented May 14 at the Meeting of the Americas in Cancun, Mexico, a scientific conference organized and co-sponsored by the American Geophysical Union.
Sudeep Thakuri, who is leading the research as part of his PhD graduate studies at the University of Milan in Italy, revealed that the findings suggest that in the last half a century the snowline in Mount Everest has shifted upward by 180 meters while glaciers have shrunk by 13 percent.
Human-generated greenhouse gases that have altered global climate are being cited as one of the top reason for this decline. However, scientists are yet to establish an unequivocal connection between changes taking place in the mountain regions and climatic changes.
Thakuri plans to conduct a subsequent study that analyses the hydrological cycle and future water availability.
"The Himalayan glaciers and ice caps are considered a water tower for Asia since they store and supply water downstream during the dry season," said Thakuri. "Downstream populations are dependent on the melt water for agriculture, drinking, and power production."
The study is currently being funded by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and the Water Research Institute-Italian National Research Council
