Every year, hundreds of tourists flock to the Himalayas to take on the ultimate climbing challenge: Mount Everest.
But a new study has warned that these climbers are unknowingly destroying Everest’s glacier… with their urine.
At an altitude of 17,598 feet, the Khumbu Glacier is the highest glacier in the world, and is also home to the Everest Base Camp.
In a new study, scientists from Nepal’s research department sought to understand the impact climbers, trekkers and support staff have on the glacier.
The team focused on the 2023 spring season, when more than 2,000 people stayed at the base camp.
According to their calculations, the visitors’ urine alone could have melted more than 150 tons of ice on the glacier.
“Human urine ends up directly on the ice at high altitudes, where the ice temperature consistently remains below 0°C,” the researchers explain.
‘Urine, at a temperature of about 37°C (human body temperature), causes the ice to melt.’
Every year, hundreds of climbers head to the Himalayas to take on the ultimate climbing challenge: Mount Everest. But a new study has warned that these climbers are unknowingly destroying Everest’s glacier… with their urine
The number of climbers visiting Everest is increasing every year – with consequences for the ice
Since 2003, climbers and visitors to Everest Base Camp have used blue barrels to collect feces.
However, their urine ends up directly on the ice.
Until now, the impact of this on the Khumbu Glacier has remained unclear.
In their new study, published in Regional Environmental Change, the researchers, led by Khim Lal Gautum, set out to unravel the mystery.
“The Everest Base Camp (EBC), a crucial staging area for mountaineers attempting to summit Mount Everest, has seen a significant increase in human activity in recent decades,” they explained.
‘The increasing number of climbers, trekkers and support staff, especially in the camping area, has increased the environmental impact on the Khumbu Glacier.’
According to the researchers’ calculations, the average daily urine output at the base camp is about 3,181 liters per person.
With approximately 2,127 people staying at the base camp for an average of 50 days during the spring, the total urine discharge amounts to approximately 338,299 liters.
The increasing number of climbers, trekkers and support staff, especially in the camping area, has increased the environmental impact on the Khumbu Glacier
Theoretically, this means that the urine released at base camp could contribute enough heat to melt 154 tons of ice.
However, there is an important caveat.
This estimate assumes that all heat released is transferred to the ice – which in practice may not be the case.
“This estimate therefore likely represents an upper limit, as it does not take into account heat losses due to percolation in debris, runoff, incomplete heat transfer, or other dissipative processes that are difficult to quantify under field conditions,” the team explained.
Based on the findings, the researchers are calling for Everest Base Camp to be moved to an ice-free area.
“Moving the base camp to an ice-free location could help reduce human-induced glacier melting while promoting more sustainable mountaineering practices,” they explained.
‘If implemented, relocation could reduce stress on the Khumbu Icefall, increase expedition safety and contribute to a more resilient mountain ecosystem.
‘Furthermore, the rapid melting of glaciers in the Hindu Kush Himalayas is not only an environmental concern for local communities, but also has global implications, such as contributing to rising sea levels.’
Based on the findings, the researchers advocate moving Everest Base Camp (current location shown in blue) to an ice-free area (potential locations shown in green).
The news comes shortly after one The plan to encourage climbers to bring rubbish down Mount Everest was scrappedafter dishonest mountaineers found ways to cheat the system.
Introduced in 2014The program forced those who climbed the mountain to pay a $4,000 (£2,964) deposit, which they only got back if they brought down at least 8kg of rubbish.
It was hoped the plan would help clean up rubbish left behind by previous mountaineers, including oxygen cylinders and human waste.
However, the waste problem has ‘not disappeared’.
Climbers have been able to cheat the system by collecting waste from lower camps, rather than from the higher camps where most of the waste lies.
Speaking to the BBCTshering Sherpa, CEO of the Sagarmatha Pollution Control Committee (SPCC), which runs a checkpoint on Everest, explained: ‘From higher camps, people tend to only bring back oxygen bottles.
“Other items like tents and cans and boxes of packaged food and drinks are largely left there, which is why we’re seeing so much waste piling up.”
