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As Above So Below
The highest rubbish dump in the world:
How big-spending climbers have turned Mount Everest into a 'disgusting eyesore' littered with discarded equipment and excrement
As the number of climbers on the mountain has soared - the problem has worsened
Discarded climbing equipment and rubbish is scattered around Camp four of Mount Everest (pictured), where decades of commercial mountaineering have left a trail of discarded waste
Mount Everest has become the world's highest rubbish dump with increasing numbers of big-spending climbers turning it into a 'disgusting eyesore', experts claim.
Fluorescent tents, climbing equipment, empty gas canisters and even human excrement litter the well-trodden route to the summit of the 29,029ft (8,848-metre) peak after being dumped by people paying little attention to the environment.
'It is disgusting, an eyesore,' Pemba Dorje Sherpa, who has reached the summit Everest 18 times, told AFP. 'The mountain is carrying tonnes of waste.'
Meanwhile, melting glaciers caused by global warming are exposing trash that has accumulated on the mountain since Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay made the first successful summit 65 years ago.
this is just a fraction of the rubbish dumped each year
WHAT IS BEING DONE TO REDUCE RUBBISH ON MOUNT EVEREST?
Decades of commercial mountaineering have turned Mount Everest into the world's highest rubbish dump.
As the number of climbers on the mountain has soared - at least 600 people have scaled the world's highest peak so far this year alone - the problem of waste disposal has worsened.
The worst rubbish is found at Camp Two, which is 21,000 foot (6,400m) above sea level.
Five years ago Nepal implemented a $4,000 (£3,000) rubbish deposit per team that would be refunded if each climber brought down at least eight kilograms (18 pounds) of waste.
On the Tibet side of the Himalayan mountain, they are required to bring down the same amount and are fined $100 (£75) per kilogram if they don't.
In 2017 climbers in Nepal brought down nearly 25 tonnes of trash and 15 tonnes of human waste - the equivalent of three double-decker buses - according to the Sagarmatha Pollution Control Committee (SPCC).
This season even more was carried down but this is just a fraction of the rubbish dumped each year, with only half of climbers lugging down the required amounts, the SPCC says.
Instead many climbers opt to forfeit the deposit, a drop in the ocean compared to the $20,000 (£15,000) - $100,000 (£75,000) they will have forked out for the experience.
Another solution, believes Ang Tsering Sherpa, former president of the Nepal Mountaineering Association, would be a dedicated rubbish collection team.
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How big-spending climbers have turned Mount Everest into a 'disgusting eyesore' littered with discarded equipment and excrement
- At least 600 big-spending climbers have scaled the 29,029ft peak of Mount Everest so far this year alone
- Rubbish dumped on its slopes includes tents, discarded climbing equipment and empty gas canisters
- Melting glaciers are also exposing trash that has accumulated on the mountain over the years
As the number of climbers on the mountain has soared - the problem has worsened
Discarded climbing equipment and rubbish is scattered around Camp four of Mount Everest (pictured), where decades of commercial mountaineering have left a trail of discarded waste
Mount Everest has become the world's highest rubbish dump with increasing numbers of big-spending climbers turning it into a 'disgusting eyesore', experts claim.
Fluorescent tents, climbing equipment, empty gas canisters and even human excrement litter the well-trodden route to the summit of the 29,029ft (8,848-metre) peak after being dumped by people paying little attention to the environment.
'It is disgusting, an eyesore,' Pemba Dorje Sherpa, who has reached the summit Everest 18 times, told AFP. 'The mountain is carrying tonnes of waste.'
Meanwhile, melting glaciers caused by global warming are exposing trash that has accumulated on the mountain since Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay made the first successful summit 65 years ago.
this is just a fraction of the rubbish dumped each year
WHAT IS BEING DONE TO REDUCE RUBBISH ON MOUNT EVEREST?
Decades of commercial mountaineering have turned Mount Everest into the world's highest rubbish dump.
As the number of climbers on the mountain has soared - at least 600 people have scaled the world's highest peak so far this year alone - the problem of waste disposal has worsened.
The worst rubbish is found at Camp Two, which is 21,000 foot (6,400m) above sea level.
Five years ago Nepal implemented a $4,000 (£3,000) rubbish deposit per team that would be refunded if each climber brought down at least eight kilograms (18 pounds) of waste.
On the Tibet side of the Himalayan mountain, they are required to bring down the same amount and are fined $100 (£75) per kilogram if they don't.
In 2017 climbers in Nepal brought down nearly 25 tonnes of trash and 15 tonnes of human waste - the equivalent of three double-decker buses - according to the Sagarmatha Pollution Control Committee (SPCC).
This season even more was carried down but this is just a fraction of the rubbish dumped each year, with only half of climbers lugging down the required amounts, the SPCC says.
Instead many climbers opt to forfeit the deposit, a drop in the ocean compared to the $20,000 (£15,000) - $100,000 (£75,000) they will have forked out for the experience.
Another solution, believes Ang Tsering Sherpa, former president of the Nepal Mountaineering Association, would be a dedicated rubbish collection team.
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