Warming eats up Everest ice by 13% in 50 yrs

Warming eats up Everest ice by 13% in 50 yrs Washington:Mount Everest is shedding its frozen cloak as its glaciers have shrunk at an alarming rate of 13% over the last 50 years due to global warming, a new study has warned. Glaciers smaller than one square kilometre are disappearing the fastest and have experienced a 43% decrease in surface area since the 1960s, researchers said.     The snow line has shifted upward by 180 meters, according to lead researcher Sudeep Thakuri, from the University of Milan in Italy. Because the glaciers are melting faster than they are replenished by ice and snow, they are revealing rocks and debris that were previously hidden deep under the ice.      These debris-covered sections of the glaciers have increased by 17% since the 1960s, according to Thakuri. The ends of the glaciers have also retreated by an average of 400 meters since 1962.     The researchers have also been studying temperature and precipitation trends in the area. They found that the region has undergone a 0.6 degree Celsius increase in temperature and 100 mm decrease in precipitation since 1992.     They found that the Everest region has been warming while snowfall has been declining since the early 1990s. Researchers suspect that the decline of snow and ice in the Everest region is from humangenerated greenhouse gases altering global climate. However, they have not yet established a firm connection between the mountains’ changes and climate change, Thakuri said.     Thakuri and his colleagues determined the extent of glacial change in the Everest region by compiling satellite imagery and topographic maps and reconstructing the area’s glacial history. PTI