Kevin Hester reports from Nepal

Our friend Kevin Hester is in Nepal at present on a trek up to Namche Bazaar and beyond.

He will be using this trip as an opportunity to observe and record changes since he was last there 30 years ago.

There is no doubt from some of the material I have been able to unearth (many thanks to Mike Ohlinger!) shows that, along with the Arctic, the Himalaya is one of the main centres for rapid climate change.

I look forward to further reports from Kevin and will be using this as an opportunity to focus on this part of the world

Kevin Hester in Nepal

The view from the roof of the Gaju suite hotel. Clear blue skies viewed through a heavy haze   Photo - Kevin Hester

"Just arrived in a chaotic,dusty, Kathmandu with the eye burning vapour of two stroke vehicles mixed with dust and whatever else.

"Sat beside Soren Ledet of http://www.worldexpeditions.com/au/ as we flew past Mt Everest with not a cloud above it, in clear sight with the summit appearing almost ice free.Soren has had to abandon two summit attempts due to adverse weather conditions.

"What are the chances of ending up sitting beside a climber who has twice attempted to summit the highest mountain in the world?
not bad if your me.

"Once I sort the downloading of photos from my new digital SLR, I'll uplaod some shots.

Clear skies overhead, a heavy haze down below where people are trying to breathe. Yesterday my eyes were watering,my throat sore very quickly - Photo - Kevin Hester

".....Now do you want the bad news? I went out for a walk and the pollution in the city was appalling. My eyes started to burn immediately, they stunk of two-stroke and petrol. My throat was sore in minutes, it was horrible. 

This town already looks like it it is on the brink of collapse."

Here are some of the resouces available on the cost of climat change in the Himalayas

Himalayas count cost of damage from soot, methane and HFCs

Impact of short lived pollutants likely to be felt across Indian subcontinent as Himalayan melt accelerates

By Kieran Cooke

(Pic; Ed King/RTCC)

(Pic; Ed King/RTCC)

RTCC,

13 March, 2013

(Pic; Ed King/RTCC)

They are called short-lived climate pollutants (SLCPs), but they play a significant role in global warming, as well as leading to serious health problems.

Although they exist for far shorter time spans in the atmosphere than CO2, the SLCPs can cause serious changes in climate in that time, particularly in urban areas or in highly climate-sensitive zones such as the polar regions and major mountain ranges.

The SLCPs − which include methane, black carbon or soot, and coolant gases known as HFCs − are particularly prevalent in some of the world’s poorest regions.

Firewood, cow dung and other fuels, incompletely combusted on millions of household fires, give rise to high levels of SLCPs − as does the black soot and fumes belching from the exhaust pipes of hundreds of thousands of trucks and buses.

The smoke and fumes originating from small industrial concerns, such as brick factories, also contain high levels of black carbon.

This pollution is swept by the winds up onto high mountain ranges, falling on the snow and glaciers and darkening the surface. Losing its ability to reflect the sun’s heat, the surface warms and a process of melting is set in motion.

The Climate and Clean Air Coalition (CCAC) − initiated by the governments of Bangladesh, Canada, Ghana, Mexico, Sweden and the US, and the United Nations Environment Programme, and also comprising private sector groups and environmental organisations − was formed three years ago with the aim of curtailing SLCP emissions.

Water crisis

At a recent meeting in Kathmandu, the capital of Nepal, delegates were told that climate change was happening faster and in a dramatically more visible manner in the Earth’s cryosphere – the regions of ice and snow – than anywhere else on earth.

The consequences of increased melting in the Himalaya-Hindu Kush region are particularly serious.

According to the Kathmandu-based International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development, the area’s mountains store nearly 10% of the world’s freshwater.

And many millions of people across one of the planet’s most densely populated regions are dependent on mountain waters for agriculture and other purposes.

The CCAC is launching a series of schemes to combat SLCPs, including giving funds to city authorities for soot-free bus fleets and programmes to encourage less polluting agricultural practices.

“Our work will contribute to the pathway of limiting global warming to 2˚C, harness health, food and energy benefits, and spur sustainable development,” says Hanne Bjurstroem, Norway’s special envoy for climate change, and a co-chair of CCAC.

The SLCPs are also a serious health hazard. According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), more than four million people die prematurely each year as a result of household air pollution.

The WHO estimates that 2.8 billion people cook and heat their homes by burning coal and biomass – wood, dung, crop wastes and other solid fuels – on open fires or basic stoves.

Cancer-causing

Fumes from these fires contain minute levels of toxic substances, such as carbon monoxide, nitrous and sulphur dioxides and formaldehyde. They often also contain particles of cancer-causing substances that can penetrate deep into the lungs.

Women and children, who spend most time in the home, are particularly vulnerable. More than 50% of premature deaths among children under five around the world, the WHO says, are due to pneumonia caused by particulate matter (soot) inhaled from household air pollution.

Solving the problem of SLCPs caused by household fires and other sources is not easy, but progress is being made in some areas.

In Nepal, the government says it is aiming for big cuts in SLCPs through various programmes, including the mass introduction of improved cooking stoves. The goal, it says, is to make Nepal free of indoor pollution by 2017.

For a blog on Black Ice in the Himalaya GO HERE

As the climate continues to change, it is important, now more than ever, to quantify what is happening to the glaciers of the Himalaya. “Boots on the ground” research approaches in Nepal serve as invaluable ways to gather data in high-resolution and in real-time. Partnerships with the local communities, trekking and mountain guides, and other researchers are crucial to obtaining data that inform and inspire.

Black Ice consists of a small team of scientists and Sherpas who work together on Nepal’s glaciers and mountains. Much focus has been on Ngozumpa glacier, which is an 18-kilometer “river of ice” riddled with supraglacial lakes. These effectively eat away at the glacier from above and below. Black Ice studies these lakes and their behavior through time lapse photography and in-situ field research.

Recently, we have expanded our knowledge base to the other ends of glaciers – the accumulation zones, where glaciers grow. As dust and black carbon (soot) deposits on snow and ice up high, this leads to enhanced melting (due to the particles’ darker colors and ability to absorb more solar radiation) and, thus, diminished glacier growth. This spring (2014), we will be studying these impacts first-hand in the Western Cwm of Mt. Everest.

To see the Cryosphere Knowledge Hub GO HERE

The Hindu Kush Himalayan region contains the world’s largest reserve of ice and snow outside the polar regions, and so is sometimes dubbed “The Third Pole”. 

Monitoring is needed to understand the effects of climate change and its impact on water reяources.

A film made by the Nepali government 6 years ago

Impact of Climate Change in the Himalayas (2009)