Focusing on climate change in the Himalayas and celebrating ICIMOD’s 25 years for mountains and people
Eco Everest Expedition 2008 will climb Mount Everest in the spring of 2008 to raise awareness on the impact of climate change in the Himalayas. Dawa Steven Sherpa of Asian Trekking will lead the expedition, which will be in partnership with the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD), and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).
Accompanying the expedition is Ken Noguchi, a Japanese alpinist and conservationist who acts as senior advisor to Eco Everest. The expedition is also supported and endorsed by the pioneering US mountaineer Conrad Anker. Dawa Steven, an Everest summiteer, has his roots and close cultural ties in the Khumbu region. In recent years he has become acutely aware of the threat of climate change on this vulnerable habitat that is both a major world water resource and climate regulator.
Says Dawa Steven: ‘I fulfilled my dream and stood on the summit of Mount Everest in May 2007. The world was at my feet. But I also noticed strange things happening. The solid ice of the Khumbu icefall had melted into slush and, on the way down, was crackling and crumbling beneath my feet. Fellow Sherpas on the mountain were running for their lives and asking me to get down as quickly as possible. I did, and on that same day the entire ice field simply collapsed. I was shocked, and wanted to understand why this had happened. After returning to Kathmandu I began my quest for answers. Most of my findings pointed towards the effects of global warming.’
Eco Everest Expedition 2008 will be a platform to draw maximum global attention to the issues of climate change and melting glaciers in the Himalayas. It will specifically highlight the threats glacial lake outburst floods (GLOFs) pose to the local communities and environment in the region. It will also raise awareness on early warning systems and on conserving the fragile mountain ecosystem.
As the main partner for the Eco Everest Expedition 2008, ICIMOD will provide technical support and carry out scientific research in the Khumbu region, focusing on the Imja and Dig Tsho glacial lakes. For ICIMOD, the year 2008 also marks its 25th anniversary of working for mountains and people in the Hindu Kush-Himalaya (HKH). ICIMOD is celebrating this occasion with a year-long series of events aiming at raising awareness, mitigating the impacts of climate change, and enhancing the adaptation and resilience of the mountain people. Eco Everest Expedition 2008 is one of the major events for this Silver Jubilee.
Mountains cover one-fifth of the globe, and almost half of humanity depends on the mountain ecosystems in one way or the other. The HKH region is an integral part of the global ecosystem. This mountain region is rich in biological and environmental resources and serves as a water tower for the region, and the world. Nine Himalayan river systems flow along these ranges and provide direct basis for livelihoods for over 150 million people. In total they sustain the lives of over 1.3 billion people – a fifth of the world’s population. However, this environment is now under constant threat as a result of environmental degradation and climate change. These have exacerbated environmental hazards such as landslides, floods, and GLOFs, and on the other extreme, severe droughts.
As part of the expedition, a Trust Fund will be set up exclusively for community development in the Khumbu region and to finance further research and monitoring of particularly dangerous glacial lakes. The Fund will also finance clean-up campaigns, awareness raising workshops amongst local communities, a photo exhibition, and an Information Centre at Everest Base Camp to inform visitors on the risks of GLOFs. Plans are underway to develop a ten-point recommendation for an "Eco Code of Conduct" (ECC) which will be field-tested during the Eco Everest Expedition 2008. This Code has been developed co-operation with renowned mountaineers and various alpine associations around the world.
KEY POINTS ON CLIMATE CHANGE IN THE HINDU KUSH-HIMALAYAS
· Climate change is having a strong affect on the Himalayan glaciers; most are retreating at a fast rate.
· As the glaciers retreat, lakes can form between the piles of rocks and stones (moraine ridge) that mark the earlier end of the glacier, and the new end of the glacier which is now higher up the valley. The debris acts like a dam ridge, but the wall is often loose and can break suddenly, leading to an outburst of water (glacial lake outburst flood or GLOF). ICIMOD identified nearly 15,000 glaciers and 9,000 glacial lakes, more than 200 of them potentially dangerous, in a survey of glaciers and lakes in Bhutan and Nepal, and selected (HKH) basins in China, India, and Pakistan.
· If the glaciers continue to shrink, this could have a profound impact on the water flowing through the nine major river basins originating in the Hindu Kush-Himalayan region. The total amount of water in the rivers might increase as the glaciers melt, but when the total amount of ice in the glaciers drops below a critical level, the flow is likely to decline. The seasonal changes in the flow will also be affected. Some changes in the patterns of water flow have already been observed in some rivers in Nepal.
· The permanent snowline has already moved higher, but as yet there are no scientific observations available that can be used to calculate the real reduction in snow and ice cover in the region.
· Floods and droughts are likely to increase both because of the loss of glacier area, and because of increases in extreme rain and snowfall events.
ICIMOD
ICIMOD is a centre where information and knowledge are exchanged and where innovation, technology transfer, and effective communications are used to empower stakeholders in the member countries. Within this mission, ICIMOD wants to be an open-house of knowledge sharing for initiatives both from the region and from the world; it is a regional platform, where policymakers, experts, planners, and practitioners can meet and exchange ideas and perspectives. ICIMOD wants to facilitate knowledge transfer across the region and from providers to users. ICIMOD sees knowledge-sharing initiatives as a source of inspiration, innovation, and questioning, and as an opportunity to customise international knowledge to tailor it to the needs of the region and to help in the design of future strategies.
ICIMOD focuses particularly on the adaptation of the HKH region and its mountain population to the changes brought about by globalisation – in the form of growth, migration and accelerated communication – and climate change, for example changing biodiversity, changing precipitation patterns and higher frequency and intensity of natural hazards. The holistic approach favours interdisciplinary problem analysis, design, implementation, and monitoring of social as well as technical aspects; which includes the crosscutting criteria of policy, governance, equity, and gender and mainstreaming information and knowledge management principles.
The ICIMOD Strategic Framework has identified three Strategic Programmes - Integrated Water and Hazards Management (IWHM), Environmental Change and Ecosystems Services (ECES), Sustainable Livelihoods and Poverty Reduction (SLPR) which are interdependent and interlinked. These three thrusts are supported by information and knowledge management facilitating knowledge transfer across the region and from providers to users.
Everest from the South Side in Nepal
Eco Everest Expedition 2008 will climb Mount Everest in the spring of 2008 to raise awareness on the impact of climate change in the Himalayas. Dawa Steven Sherpa of Asian Trekking will lead the expedition, which will be in partnership with the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD), and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).
Accompanying the expedition is Ken Noguchi, a Japanese alpinist and conservationist who acts as senior advisor to Eco Everest. The expedition is also supported and endorsed by the pioneering US mountaineer Conrad Anker. Dawa Steven, an Everest summiteer, has his roots and close cultural ties in the Khumbu region. In recent years he has become acutely aware of the threat of climate change on this vulnerable habitat that is both a major world water resource and climate regulator.
Says Dawa Steven: ‘I fulfilled my dream and stood on the summit of Mount Everest in May 2007. The world was at my feet. But I also noticed strange things happening. The solid ice of the Khumbu icefall had melted into slush and, on the way down, was crackling and crumbling beneath my feet. Fellow Sherpas on the mountain were running for their lives and asking me to get down as quickly as possible. I did, and on that same day the entire ice field simply collapsed. I was shocked, and wanted to understand why this had happened. After returning to Kathmandu I began my quest for answers. Most of my findings pointed towards the effects of global warming.’
Eco Everest Expedition 2008 will be a platform to draw maximum global attention to the issues of climate change and melting glaciers in the Himalayas. It will specifically highlight the threats glacial lake outburst floods (GLOFs) pose to the local communities and environment in the region. It will also raise awareness on early warning systems and on conserving the fragile mountain ecosystem.
As the main partner for the Eco Everest Expedition 2008, ICIMOD will provide technical support and carry out scientific research in the Khumbu region, focusing on the Imja and Dig Tsho glacial lakes. For ICIMOD, the year 2008 also marks its 25th anniversary of working for mountains and people in the Hindu Kush-Himalaya (HKH). ICIMOD is celebrating this occasion with a year-long series of events aiming at raising awareness, mitigating the impacts of climate change, and enhancing the adaptation and resilience of the mountain people. Eco Everest Expedition 2008 is one of the major events for this Silver Jubilee.
Mountains cover one-fifth of the globe, and almost half of humanity depends on the mountain ecosystems in one way or the other. The HKH region is an integral part of the global ecosystem. This mountain region is rich in biological and environmental resources and serves as a water tower for the region, and the world. Nine Himalayan river systems flow along these ranges and provide direct basis for livelihoods for over 150 million people. In total they sustain the lives of over 1.3 billion people – a fifth of the world’s population. However, this environment is now under constant threat as a result of environmental degradation and climate change. These have exacerbated environmental hazards such as landslides, floods, and GLOFs, and on the other extreme, severe droughts.
As part of the expedition, a Trust Fund will be set up exclusively for community development in the Khumbu region and to finance further research and monitoring of particularly dangerous glacial lakes. The Fund will also finance clean-up campaigns, awareness raising workshops amongst local communities, a photo exhibition, and an Information Centre at Everest Base Camp to inform visitors on the risks of GLOFs. Plans are underway to develop a ten-point recommendation for an "Eco Code of Conduct" (ECC) which will be field-tested during the Eco Everest Expedition 2008. This Code has been developed co-operation with renowned mountaineers and various alpine associations around the world.
KEY POINTS ON CLIMATE CHANGE IN THE HINDU KUSH-HIMALAYAS
· Climate change is having a strong affect on the Himalayan glaciers; most are retreating at a fast rate.
· As the glaciers retreat, lakes can form between the piles of rocks and stones (moraine ridge) that mark the earlier end of the glacier, and the new end of the glacier which is now higher up the valley. The debris acts like a dam ridge, but the wall is often loose and can break suddenly, leading to an outburst of water (glacial lake outburst flood or GLOF). ICIMOD identified nearly 15,000 glaciers and 9,000 glacial lakes, more than 200 of them potentially dangerous, in a survey of glaciers and lakes in Bhutan and Nepal, and selected (HKH) basins in China, India, and Pakistan.
· If the glaciers continue to shrink, this could have a profound impact on the water flowing through the nine major river basins originating in the Hindu Kush-Himalayan region. The total amount of water in the rivers might increase as the glaciers melt, but when the total amount of ice in the glaciers drops below a critical level, the flow is likely to decline. The seasonal changes in the flow will also be affected. Some changes in the patterns of water flow have already been observed in some rivers in Nepal.
· The permanent snowline has already moved higher, but as yet there are no scientific observations available that can be used to calculate the real reduction in snow and ice cover in the region.
· Floods and droughts are likely to increase both because of the loss of glacier area, and because of increases in extreme rain and snowfall events.
ICIMOD
ICIMOD is a centre where information and knowledge are exchanged and where innovation, technology transfer, and effective communications are used to empower stakeholders in the member countries. Within this mission, ICIMOD wants to be an open-house of knowledge sharing for initiatives both from the region and from the world; it is a regional platform, where policymakers, experts, planners, and practitioners can meet and exchange ideas and perspectives. ICIMOD wants to facilitate knowledge transfer across the region and from providers to users. ICIMOD sees knowledge-sharing initiatives as a source of inspiration, innovation, and questioning, and as an opportunity to customise international knowledge to tailor it to the needs of the region and to help in the design of future strategies.
ICIMOD focuses particularly on the adaptation of the HKH region and its mountain population to the changes brought about by globalisation – in the form of growth, migration and accelerated communication – and climate change, for example changing biodiversity, changing precipitation patterns and higher frequency and intensity of natural hazards. The holistic approach favours interdisciplinary problem analysis, design, implementation, and monitoring of social as well as technical aspects; which includes the crosscutting criteria of policy, governance, equity, and gender and mainstreaming information and knowledge management principles.
The ICIMOD Strategic Framework has identified three Strategic Programmes - Integrated Water and Hazards Management (IWHM), Environmental Change and Ecosystems Services (ECES), Sustainable Livelihoods and Poverty Reduction (SLPR) which are interdependent and interlinked. These three thrusts are supported by information and knowledge management facilitating knowledge transfer across the region and from providers to users.
Everest from the South Side in Nepal
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