Climate Change In The Himalayas

PHAKDING, NEPAL, FEBRUARY 5, 2015: A donkey train is seen walking across a string bridge above the Dudh Kosi river near the town of Phakding in the Solu-Khumbu region of Nepal, February 5, 2015. The Solu-Khumbu region is home to the world's highest mountain, Mount Everest (8848m). According to leading researchers, in recent years the landscape and people of the Solu-Khumbu region have come under increasing pressure from raising temperatures and shifting climactic conditions. As well as being home to many of the world's highest mountains, the region holds some of the world's largest and highest glaciers, some of which have begun to show signs of increased and rapid melt. The Khumbu glacier, which lies at the foot of Mount Everest, has in the last decade begun to develop ponds of water on its surface, which scientists say could develop into a much larger lake on the glacier's surface if warming trends continue. Recent research indicates that annual mean surface temperature in the Himalaya has increased by 1.5 degrees celsius over pre-industrial temperatures.