Sherpas in Everest Region Grapple with Risk of Homes Being Washed Away
Nestled at an elevation of approximately 3,800 meters (12,467 feet) in Nepal's Everest region lies the Sherpa village of Thame, home to many accomplished Sherpa mountaineers, including Tenzing Norgay, the first person to summit Mount Everest alongside explorer Edmund Hillary.
However, the village faced a harrowing incident on August 16th when it was inundated by icy floodwaters after a nearby glacial lake burst its banks, displacing around 60 people and destroying more than a dozen houses, hotels, a school, and a health clinic. This event has left many of the approximately 300 residents of Thame questioning the safety of continuing to live in the area.
Ang Tshering Sherpa, the former president of the Nepal Mountaineering Association, estimates that if the flood had occurred at night, it could have claimed the lives of 200 to 300 people. Yangji Doma Sherpa, a native of Thame, expressed the continued shock and grief felt by the villagers, stating, "The bigger question is if this place is safe enough to live in now. This flood has shown that we face an even more dangerous situation now, and therefore people don't feel safe."
Downstream villages, such as Tok Tok, have also been affected, with Pasang Sherpa describing the terrifying sight and sound of the dark, debris-filled river rushing through their settlement. While a few communities near the Imja glacial lake have received some disaster preparedness training, the residents of Thame have not been provided with any such guidance.
Locals argue that the risk could be significantly reduced if there were proper monitoring mechanisms in place for the glacial lakes located upstream from human settlements. However, they note that while a few lakes have drawn the attention of scientists and authorities, many others remain unaddressed. The Everest region has experienced more than a dozen glacial lake outburst incidents in the past 50 years, four of which occurred in the Dudhkosi river basin, including the 1985 event that caused substantial damage downstream.
Small Lakes, Big Risks: Lack of Monitoring Leaves Everest Region Vulnerable
The problem of inadequate monitoring of glacial lakes is not limited to just the village of Thame. In fact, it is a widespread issue across the Himalayas, where there are thousands of glaciers and glacial lakes, but very few in the Everest region are actively monitored or equipped with early flood warning systems.
This lack of oversight is compounded by the accelerating effects of global warming, which is causing Himalayan glaciers to melt at an alarming rate. A 2021 study led by the University of Leeds found that Himalayan glaciers have been losing ice ten times faster over the past few decades compared to the average rate measured since their expansion 400 to 700 years ago. Another study published in Nature in 2022 revealed that the South Col Glacier on Mount Everest may have lost half its mass since the 1990s due to warming.
As glaciers retreat, the resulting destabilization of the local landscape has led to an increase in landslides and avalanches, which can pour into the glacial lakes and cause them to burst. While authorities in Nepal have identified around two dozen glacial lakes across the Nepali Himalayas as being high-risk, the two lakes that burst on August 16th were not on this list and were not being monitored.
Ang Tshering Sherpa, the former president of the Nepal Mountaineering Association, emphasizes the severity of the situation, stating, "They were the smallest ones and no one cared about them, and yet the damages have been so huge. Imagine what could happen if the big ones burst out. There are many of them in the Everest region."
Yangji Doma Sherpa, a native of the affected Thame village, echoes this concern, noting that the recent incident has left residents feeling unsafe, particularly the elderly who may have mobility issues. With the potential for more glacial lake outbursts looming, addressing the lack of monitoring and early warning systems in the Everest region has become a pressing issue that authorities must prioritize to protect vulnerable communities.
Cut Off from the Outside World: The Devastating Aftermath of Himalayan Glacial Floods"
The impacts of global warming on Himalayan glaciers and lakes have only become more dire in recent years, with locals in the affected areas saying that some of the damage from these floods is now irreparable. In the case of the Thame village, the flooding has dramatically altered the course of the local river, with the Thame river now flowing directly through the center of the village and claiming nearly half of the land.
As Yangji Doma Sherpa explains, "Much of the remaining land now is full of debris and boulders. This is not like rebuilding the houses destroyed by the quake. When you have no land left, what can you build on?" The flood has also severely impacted the region's sole hydropower station, rendering it inoperable due to the deposition of mud and debris in the reservoir. This has led to a complete loss of power and communication, leaving the area "cut off from the outside world since the disaster struck."
Mingma Sherpa, the chair of a youth club in the nearby town of Namche, expresses the sense of fear and vulnerability felt by the local community, stating, "We had been worrying about slow onset impacts of climate change, like dwindling water resources, but this disaster has shown how unsafe and vulnerable we are."
While government officials, such as Anil Pokhrel of Nepal's Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority (NDRRMA), have acknowledged the concerns of locals and are now forming a team of experts to assess the risks posed by the remaining upstream lakes, the Sherpa community members express frustration with the lack of decisive action over the years.
Yangji Doma Sherpa laments, "We hear all big plans, especially during conferences, and soon the plans are forgotten. But we can't forget about what this flood has done - and that there are other lakes lurking up there that can unleash disasters on us anytime." The need for sustained, proactive measures to address the growing threat of glacial lake outbursts in the Everest region has never been more urgent.
Reference: Navin S. K. (21 Aug 2024) Sherpas in the Everest Region Concerned About Potential Loss of Homes Due to Changing Climate
Retrieved from https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c785nwq568zo Everest's Sherpas fear their homes could wash away
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