Pollution and bodies in the Himalayas- How bad is it?

The Himalayas of Nepal need severe attention for the pollution caused in the region. Day by day, the Himalayas are turning into garbage areas. We are all aware that several people attempt to climb Mount Everest, but it is not a cup of tea for everyone. Many people fail to summit Mount Everest, resulting in their death in Everest. Do you wonder where does the dead body go in Everest? Well, the dead bodies remain forever in Everest.

Some people might evacuate the body out of Mount Everest, but it requires a lot of money—a lot! Due to this, many people let the body stay in Everest rather than evacuate it. Due to the very low temperature in Everest, the body never decays; it remains preserved at the world's highest altitude.

As per the study by BBC, there are still more than 200 dead bodies on Mount Everest. This is a bad situation for the climbers trying to summit the Everest and the mother earth.

Pollution in Everest

Do you know that there could be more than 30 tons of garbage in the Everest region? Even after trying a lot to reduce the garbage production in Mount Everest, the government couldn't help it. Nepal's government and the world's biggest environmentalists are trying to reduce the pollution in Mount Everest. The tons of garbage include tents, oxygen cylinders, bottles, plastic, human excretion (poop), cans and much more waste.

Even after several rules and regulations were made, the Everest region has turned into a dumping area with tons of waste, which affects the world's climate. Several microplastics are found in Everest, which is the major reason for climate change and global warming in Nepal and even the whole world.

Every year, thousands of pounds of garbage are collected from the Everest Region. In 2019, around 3000 kg of waste was collected from Everest and sent to Okhaldhunga, where it was later disposed of by the Nepal Army via helicopter. It is estimated that more than 50,000 pounds of human waste is still on Mount Everest.

New rules for the human waste in Everest

The government has started a new rule for pooping in the Everest. At the same time, most of the climbers used to poop in the Everest openly and pollute the mountain. The new rules clearly say that one must poop in plastic and bring down their poop in it. It will help reduce human excrement in the Everest region. As per the chairman of Pasang Lhamu Rural Municipality, Mingma Sherpa, the mountains have started sinking. Mostly it has started smelling like human poop.

Each climber will receive three bags to use during the Everest climb to collect waste. The Sagarmatha Pollution Control Committee has been launching many campaigns to reduce pollution on Mount Everest.

How do the pollution and bodies in Everest affect the climate?

We will discuss the four major effects of pollution and bodies in Everest:

1. Glacier melt: It is said that the glaciers near the Everest region have started melting because of the pollution in the Everest region. The plastics found in Everest can melt the mountain itself. The plastic radiates heat, which will cause global warming and impact the glaciers and mountains in Everest.

2. Contaminated diseases in Humans: This can even lead to waterborne and airborne diseases in humans. Human waste might have bacteria that will cause diseases like typhoid and cholera in the local people who rely on the water sources coming from Everest.

3. Respiratory issues: The microplastics found in the Everest region can also cause respiratory issues in Humans. The fossils and skeletons are composed of the low temperature on Everest, which can increase carbon in nature and also other chemicals and cause respiratory diseases in human beings.

4. Carbon footprint: The carbon footprint increases due to the helicopter evacuation and tour in the Everest region. Also, the oxygen cylinder and the gas stoves will increase the amount of carbon in the environment and degrade the quality of air and oxygen in Everest, Nepal. This will impact the greenhouse effect of the earth and even cause damage to the ozone layer of the earth's atmosphere.

How can we reduce pollution and wastage in Everest?

As per the Nepal government, a climber who goes above the Everest Base Camp trek must bring back 8 kgs of solid waste. If they cannot, they must deposit $ 4,000 in the committee. This will cost you a lot, so it is better to bring back the waste and help to clean the environment. This amount must be deposited before climbing Everest. Once the climber brings back the amount of waste that must be carried, the deposit of $4000 will be refunded back to the climber.

Another way to reduce waste in the region is by organizing many campaigns and encouraging many people to participate. This will definitely help to reduce tons of Everest's waste. As per the new rules made by the government and local bodies, if the climber starts bringing their poop with them, the amount of human waste that is in Everest will significantly decrease.

Talking about the dead bodies, it is difficult to remove them. One must spend around $70,000 or even more to evacuate a dead body from Everest. So, it's better to bury the dead body in an area that cannot be seen by the climbers while climbing.

We would also like to request that climbers bring what they have taken to Everest. This might be empty oxygen cylinders, cans, bottles, plastics, cooking items, or even personal care items.

So, with the help of local and international authorities and environmentalists, we can surely reduce the amount of waste in the Everest region. It is impossible to bring all the waste in a single day. In every season, each climber can bring as much as they can and help to create a Garbage-free Everest.