Everest ‘meltdown’ at UN door

Conservationists and climbers will ask the United Nations today to place Mount Everest on a danger list because its snow cover is retreating...

Conservationists and climbers will ask the United Nations today to place Mount Everest on a danger list because its snow cover is retreating rapidly due to climate change. They will call on UNESCO to designate the mountain, legally binding the international community to protect the area.

The petitioners include broadcaster Sir David Attenborough and mountaineers Sir Chris Bonington and Reinhold Messner, the first to climb the world’s 14 highest peaks.

The group warns that the melt water is filling Himalayan lakes, which could cause catastrophic flooding if they burst. Later today, Pro Public (Friends of the Earth Nepal) will, by hand, deliver statements gathered from distinguished Everest climbers to the World Heritage Committee in Paris.

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Pemba Dorjee Sherpa, who holds the record for the fastest climb of Everest (eight hours 10 minutes) said: ‘‘Last year, when Edmund Hillary came to Everest, he told me that so much snow had melted in the 50 years since he first climbed it…In 1953, snow and ice had reached all the way to base camp, but now it ends five miles above. Everest is losing its natural beauty. If this continues, tourists won’t come any more.’’

Prakash Sharma, director of Pro Public, said: ‘‘Mount Everest is a powerful symbol. If we fail to act, we are failing future generations and denying them the chance to enjoy the beauty of mother Earth.’’

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