Climate Risks Concern Everest Climber

Dawa Steven Sherpa already has climbed Mount Everest in Nepal but the 23-year-old wants to do it again to draw attention to the dangers of global warming.

Dawa, who is half Nepalese and half Belgian, plans another Everest expedition to raise awareness about the harzardous snow melt in the Himalayas, especially on Everest’s Khumbu glacier he witnessed last year, the BBC reported Tuesday.

He said as he was climbing the mountain, he met a descending Sherpa group carrying their loads.

They were petrified — with reason, because the ice below our feet was creaking and the ice had all melted into slush, Dawa told the BBC. Later the same day, the entire ice field at that location collapsed, he said.

Scientists have warned hundreds of Himalayan glaciers from Pakistan to Bhutan are melting because of global warming, the report said. They say some of the melted snows are forming lakes which may in time burst and flood the valleys.

The Nepal-based International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development says a fifth of the human race is dependent on Himalayan rivers but warns all the glaciers could melt by 2050, causing floods and later drought.

Dawa’s expedition also plans to draw attention to keeping the Everest region free of garbage and other pollutants.