WSJ interviews Mayewksi about Mount Everest becoming more dangerous
Paul Mayewski, director of the University of Maine Climate Change Institute, spoke with the Wall Street Journal about how Mount Everest, particularly the Khumbu Icefall, is becoming more dangerous to climb as a result of climate change. Rapid melting causes glaciers, like the Khumbu Glacier, to shrink and erode. That increases the risk of avalanches, ice falls and crevasses, Mayewski said. “The likelihood of that getting worse in a warmer climate increases because ice becomes more mobile,” he said. “The warmer it is, the more flowing water. And that flowing water obviously destabilizes the ice.”