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Date _ _ _ _ Class _ _ _ __
South Asia
Environmental Case Study
Cleaning Up Mount Everest
Mount Everest is the highest mountain
on Earth. On the border of Nepal and the
Tibet region of China, it soars 29,035 feet
(8,850 m) and is part of the vast Himalayan mountain ranges. Every year people
from all over the world try to climb Mount
Everest, and the tourism brings money
to Nepal.
Mount Everest's popularity has given it
a big trash problem, however. The mountain has been called the world's highest
garbage dump, and its slopes are littered
with tents, climbing gear, water bottles,
food cans, oxygen tanks, and even dead
bodies. More than 180 people have died
trying to climb Everest. Their bodies are
still there, frozen under ice and snow, too
heavy for other climbers to carry down.
The Trash Piles Up In the first half of the
twentieth century, many people triedand failed-to climb to the top of Everest. Then in 1953, New Zealand mountain climber Edmund Hillary and native
Sherpa guide Tenzing Norgay reached
the summit. Since that historic first,
more and more people have tried to
reach the peak. But as Everest's popularity has grown, so has its trash piles.
The problem comes when climbers,
who are exhausted, oxygen deprived,
and desperate to make it off the mountain alive, try to lighten their load by
dumping their gear. Some reports
estimate that more than 100 tons of
garbage litter the sides of Everest.
(-60°C), and winds can top 100 miles per
hour (160 km per hour). The weather is
unpredictable, bringing on sudden storms
and rapidly dropping temperatures. Conditions are most favorable for climbing in
April and May, but even then the risk of
frostbite is high.
Perhaps the biggest threat to mountaineers is lack of oxygen. The air at the peak
has only one-third as much breathable
oxygen as the air at sea level. Climbers
deprived of oxygen can become confused,
leading them to make bad decisions in
an already dangerous environment.
A New Ethic Today there is a new spirit
of environmental activism on Everest. The
days of people dumping excess equipment
appear to be gone.
The government of Nepal has played
a big part in the new ethic. The government realizes that if its mountain is polluted, people will not want to come there.
So in 1993, the Nepalese government
Everest Route
A Treacherous Climb Climbing
Everest is grueling and dangerous.
The area above 25,000 feet (7,600 m)
is known as "the death zone." Winter
temperatures can dip as low as -76°P
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Name _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __ _ _ _ _ __ _ Date _ __ _ Class _ _ _ __
Environmental Case Study
continued
enacted new laws. All expeditions now
have to register their equipment and pay
$5,000 before ascending the mountain. The
money is not returned unless the climbers can show they brought all items back
down with them.
Cleanup Time Climbers themselves have
spearheaded cleanup efforts. In 1994 the first
cleanup expedition went up the mountain
with the sole purpose of removing trash.
Since then, thousands of pounds Qf garbage
have been carried down off the mountain.
Ken Noguchi, an avid mountain
climber from Japan, has had a big role in
the cleanup. In 2000 and 2001, he brought
,
-
down more than 5,000 pounds of trash
from Everest. But Noguchi did not just
throw the trash away.
To raise awareness of the trash problem,
he sorted the trash by its country of origin.
He took all the garbage from Japan back
home and put it on display to teach people
to be more carefuL He has taken exhibits
of Everest's trash to Nepal, China, and
South Korea.
Cleanup crews report that nearly all
of the trash they collected was from the
1950s through the 1980s. Almost nothing
had been dumped in the 1990s. That alone
shows how much the trash problem is
improving.
f It's a Fact 1.
1. In the last few years, the number of climbers on Everest has
skyrocketed-27,000 tourists a year visit the mountain. On a single
day- May 23, 2001- more than 90 people reached the summit.
2. In 2001 American Erik Weihenmayer became the first blind person to
reach the top of Everest. Weihenmayer was an experienced climber.
He had already climbed Mount McKinley and Mount Kilimanjaro.
3. Each year, Mount Everest moves a few inches to the northeast and
gets a fraction of an inch taller.
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Name ___________________ Date _ _ _ _ Class _ _ _ __
Environmental Case Study
continued
:' .... ( The Melting of Everest ). .... ".
3. Explaining Why is lack of oxygen
Mount Everest has changed
dramatically since Edmund Hillary
and Tenzing Norgay scaled its peak
in 1953. It is not just tourists that are
doing the damage. Global warming
is causing ice all over the mountain
to melt.
In one location, a glacier has
retreated three miles (4.8 km) from
where it was in 1953. In another
place, a series of small ponds has
melted into one long lake. Many
lakes are swollen and in danger
of overflowing their banks.
Experts consider the changing
climate to be the most serious threat
l
facing Mount Everest.
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....... .... " ....................... " ............................ '" " ......... '" ... ;
dangerous for climbers?
4. Stating What are the Nepalese laws
to prevent dumping on the mountain?
~
(l Review the Facts
5. Identifying How has Ken Noguchi
raised awareness of the garbage
problem?
Directions: Read the information about
Mount Everest and examine the map.
Then answer the following questions.
1. Locating Mount Everest is on the bor-
der of which two countries?
6. Specifying During which time period
was most of the garbage left behind?
2. Listing What are three reasons the top
of Everest is called "the death zone"?
A.
B.
c.
7. Determining Cause and Effect What
are two changes that global warming
has made to Mount Everest?
A.
B.
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Name _ _ _ _ __ _ __ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ Date _ _ _ _ Class _ _ _ _-
Environmental Case Study
continued
Investigate Your Garbage
v? For Investigation
•
•
•
•
plastic grocery bags
newspapers
pencil and paper
video camera
Garbage has been a problem for civilizations
throughout history. Today the garbage problem is
particularly serious. Many products are designed to
be thrown away after only one use. All this garbage
is piling up in landfills. The best solution is to produce
less garbage.
In this activity, you will learn how much garbage your class's
families generate in one week and ways to reduce that amount.
Then you will develop a public service announcement to publicize
the garbage problem and solutions.
What to Do
1. For one week, keep track of each large
bag of garbage your family generates.
2. At the end of the week, add up the
number of garbage bags filled by your
family as well as classmates' families.
In class, each student should fill a
small plastic grocery bag with a crumpled piece of newspaper to represent
each large bag of trash generated by
the families. Stack the newspaperfilled grocery bags in a corner.
Assessment Checklist
Assess your PSA using the checklist
below:
D
D
D
D
3. Discuss with your classmates ideas
for reducing the amount of garbage.
What items in your families' trash
could be reused or recycled? What
could be done with food waste?
D
Calculated the amount of garbage
generated by the classroom's families
in a week
Discussed ideas for reducing the
amount of garbage
Wrote a thoughtful PSA
Filmed the PSA using articulate
sentences, enthusiasm, and eye
contact
Cleaned up the "garbage area"
by recycling the plastic bags and
newspapers
4. Working in a group, write a public
service announcement (PSA) describing the amount of garbage generated
by just your classroom's families each week, as well as ideas
for how to lessen the amount of garbage. Practice reading
the PSA aloud.
5. Film your PSA while standing in front of the large pile of
"garbage" in the classroom. Contact local news media to see
if they will air your PSA on the local news.
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