Melting Mount Everest glaciers expose dead climbers’ bodies

Not even Mount Everest appears immune to global warming. And a new concern has emerged as a result of glacial melting: Exposed bodies.

Melting ice and snow on Everest caused by higher temperatures is revealing the bodies of dead climbers, reports CNN.

Ang Tshering Sherpa, the former president of the Nepal Mountaineering Association, tells CNN climbers are finding the bodies as a result of climate change, as “snow and glaciers are fast-melting.”

Bodies are being removed from the Chinese side of Everest as the spring climbing season is about to begin, reports BBC.

The Expedition Operators Association of Nepal tells BBC dealing with removing the dead bodies has been difficult because of a law requiring the involvement of government agencies.

CNN reports more than 200 people have died on Everest’s peak since 1922.

“This issue needs to be prioritized by both the government and the mountaineering industry,” Dambar Parajuli, president of EOAN, told BBC.

Removing the bodies is also an expensive process. According to a 2016 report from The Washington Post, it can cost between $30,000 to $70,000 to retrieve a body from the mountain.

Most deaths on Everest occur in the “death zone,” a portion of the mountain above 26,000 feet, reports The Post.

A report released in February spells out fears of glacial melting in the Himalayas. The report from the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development said if global warming continues, two-thirds of Himalayan glaciers could melt by 2100.

Melting ice from the glaciers could cause major floods and destroy crops, said the report.

Read more at usatoday.com.