32 Dead, 85 Missing In Himalayan Trekking Disaster After Unseasonal Blizzard
BY ARI PHILLIPS POSTED ON
Climate scientists are hesitant to link any one weather event to climate change, but they have pointed out in the past that the Himalayas are especially vulnerable to the increased storm intensity expected to result from climate change.
“Storms in that region are getting stronger,” John Stone, an IPCC lead author and adjunct professor at Carleton University in Ottawa, told the Toronto Star. “It is not inconsistent with what scientists have been saying … by making the atmosphere contain more energy, we have increased the likelihood of more frequent and severe storms.”
The International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development, a regional agency based in Kathmandu that serves eight countries, released a report in May showing that rising temperatures caused Nepal’s glaciers to shrink by almost a quarter between 1977 and 2010 — at an average loss of about 15 square miles per year. The report also pointed out that Nepal’s average temperature change has been two to eight times greater than the global average. The report says that these changes could bring more intense and frequent floods, avalanches, and landslides.
This is not the first time a deadly blizzard has struck trekkers during the hiking season. In 1995 and 2005 more than a dozen climbers and guides were killed by storms. Then earlier this year in April an avalanche killed 16 Nepalese guides near a base camp on Mount Everest in the deadliest disaster in the mountain’s history. This avalanche was not caused by a storm, but melting ice on the famous Khumbu Icefall.
“Accurate weather forecasting has reduced the risk of being surprised by a killer storm like the one that struck in 1996,” wrote Jon Krakauer, author of a book about a deadly 1996 storm event on Everest, in the New Yorker. “But the pronounced warming of the Himalayan climate in recent years has made the Icefall more unstable than ever, and there is still no way to predict when a serac is going to topple over. And Sherpas spend much, much more time in the Icefall than their Western employers.”
Of this disaster, former British Gurkha officer and avid trekker General Sam Cowan said“no one should have ventured out to cross Thorung La with the weather as threatening as it was, nor should their trekking guides have allowed it.”
http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2014/10/17/3581110/unseasonal-blizzard-deadly-himalayan-avalanche/
Structure of the Lead：
WHO-
WHEN-
WHY-
WHERE-
HOW-
Keywords：
1. trekker：登山者
2. snowfall：降雪
3. avalanches：雪崩
4. blizzard：暴風雪
5. lodges：小屋
6. Sherpas：夏爾巴人
7. topple：倒塌
8. serac ：冰塔
It is really a tragedy.Because the natural disasters can't be detected in advanced,the hikers should be well prepared before going to hike.Although hiking can help one achieve his or her dream and challenge one's limit but nothing is important than lives.Hope the rescue team can find out the missing people soon,and this tragedy can become a warn to people who are going to hike in the Himalayan.
回覆刪除It is sad to heard the bad news. Many people died when they were climbing the Himalayas. Due to the bad weather, the rescue work was hard to carry on. It has been the most deadliest avalanche accident happened over the years. Since natural disasters are always happen suddenly, we can not prevent earlier. However, we should have known some self-help methods in case that natural disasters really happen.
回覆刪除That the thing happened in Himalayan shocked the whole world. People all feel sad for those victim. Even though the resuce work was done immediately after the accident happened, there were still many people died in the tragedy. Since we don't have the ability to know what will happen on the next minute, we should grasp every moment to stay with our love. Never feel regret until we lost them. All in all, we can't prevent the natural things happen, what we can do is well prepared!
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