09 October 2006

Closed for refurbishment

Perhaps it is time that access to Mt. Everest and other popular climbing destinations be restricted or closed. That is the message of an article from yesterday's Observer.

The mountain is suffering potentially severe ecological damage from the hosts of climbers and tourists who visit year in and year out. The mountain is littered with rubbish (plastic, discarded oxygen cylinders, medical waster and, unfortunately, corpses). The glaciers are receding under the pressures of climate change.

Unfortunately the Nepalese government gains considerable income from the visitors and even though they recognise the dangers are unlikely to act in the near future.

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