This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies. Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: Seventy-three years ago, Tenzing Norgay stood on top of Everest, known as Chomolungma in Tibetan, which roughly translates as "Goddess Mother of the World." A new biopic of Norgay's life and his first ascent of the highest mountain in the world with Edmund Hillary portrays his humility and intimate bond with nature and the mountains beautifully and with compassion. In some ways, however, the most spectacular stars of the film are the majestic and awe-inspiring mountain landscapes captured by the sweeping cinematography.
I am a mountaineer and glaciologist by profession and have an affinity for wild, open and vertiginous landscapes. The film made me wonder what Norgay would think if he could return to the mountain today. How have things changed in the intervening years, and what does that mean for the future of mountaineering and alpine climbing?
Everest Base Camp (EBC) is a very different scene now. Instead of a single, admittedly gargantuan, expedition each year, the Nepalese government now issues many permits and, at peak season, base camp is a sea of tents, people and too often trash left behind by climbers. That's quite sad and a far cry from what the 1953 expedition would have experienced.
The conditions and health of the Khumbu Glacier, which provides access to EBC and the start of the real climbing, are also very different. A recent study used declassified spy satellite imagery to compare the loss of ice mass across the Himalayas between the 1970s and the 2000s. The researchers found that the rate of loss had doubled in the period 2000–2016 compared with the earlier period.
They estimated the rate of thinning at the altitude of EBC was about 0.8 meters (2.6 feet) per year. The glacier is around 150 meters (490 feet) thick in the region below base camp. At the rate of thinning observed a decade ago, it would lose about a third of its volume in 73 years, exposing more and more loose and unstable rock.
However, my own work with colleagues indicates that the acceleration in mass loss across the Himalayas has continued since 2016 to reach even higher rates. Google Earth imagery of the Khumbu Glacier from 2021 shows extensive development of lakes on the ice surface: a sure sign of a glacier in decline. The lakes absorb more solar radiation than the surrounding ice and accelerate melting.
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