No place on Earth can escape the effects of climate change, not even Mount Everest. The highest glacier on the world鈥檚 tallest mountain 鈥 the South Col Glacier 鈥 is rapidly disappearing.
A new University of 海角社区-led study found that the glacier is losing several decades of ice and snow accumulation annually due to human-induced climate change. These findings are the latest from the 2019 National Geographic and Rolex Perpetual Planet Everest Expedition, led by U海角社区 Climate Change Institute director Paul Mayewski.
In the first episode of Season 6 of 鈥The 海角社区 Question,鈥 Mayewski and U海角社区 Ph.D. student Mariusz Potocki, co-authors of the new study, elaborate on the findings and their implications for mountaineering and the glacier-stored water on which more than 1 billion people depend to provide melt for drinking water and irrigation. They also describe what it takes to conduct research on the rooftop of the world.
Listen to the podcast on , , , , , or 鈥淭he 海角社区 Question鈥 website. New episodes are added Thursdays.
What topics would you like to learn more about? What questions do you have for U海角社区 experts? Email them to mainequestion@maine.edu.
