Climate Change Threat To Everest

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CVX
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Climate Change Threat To Everest

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By Amanda Brown

The Scotsman - UK

11-17-4



The world's highest peak should be put on a danger list because of the threat posed to it by climate change, campaigners urged today.



Unesco is being urged to place Everest National Park on the World Heritage Danger List so that the legal duty to protect the area is respected.



The fear is that unless urgent action is taken, many Himalayan lakes could burst, threatening the lives of thousands of people and destroying a unique and irreplaceable environment.



Friends of the Earth Nepal and record-breaking Nepalese climbers will deliver their petition by hand to the World Heritage Committee in Paris tomorrow.



Petitioners include Sir David Attenborough and mountaineers Sir Chris Bonington, Reinhold Messner and Stephen Venables.



The melting of Himalayan glaciers as a result of climate change has swollen the Himalayan lakes, increasing the risk of catastrophic flooding.



There is also wide agreement that many lakes are at risk, but a lack of adequate monitoring means that there is no realistic assessment of how close they are to bursting.



Putting Everest National Park on the Danger List would mean Unesco would have to assess Nepal's glacial lakes and stabilise those most at risk.



Campaigners will also submit petitions calling for coral reefs in Belize and glaciers in Peru to be added to the danger list as a result of climate change.



The problems faced by Nepal, Belize and Peru are the result of gas emissions from industrialised countries, such as the UK.



The World Heritage Committee is being asked to press governments around the world to reduce their countries' greenhouse gas emissions to ensure that the world's most spectacular places remain for future generations.



Prakash Sharma, director of Friends of the Earth Nepal, said "Mount Everest is a powerful symbol of the natural world.



"If this mountain is threatened with climate change, then we know the situation is deadly serious.



"If we fail to act, we are failing future generations and denying them the chance to enjoy the beauty of mother earth."



©2004 Scotsman.com http://news.scotsman.com/scitech.cfm?id=1326322004

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