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Vienna, Austria - Austrian President Heinz Fischer today received a rock piece from the summit of Mount Everest as a symbol of melting Himalayas in the wake of Climate Change from Climate for Life Ambassadors Apa and Dawa Sherpa. The duo also presented a letter from the Nepalese Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal.
The rock piece is an impressive reminder to rich industrial nations like Austria, to urgently reduce their CO2 emissions. “The industrialized nations are the main perpetrators of climate change,” said Andreas Wurzer, deputy CEO of WWF Austria. “It is therefore urgent that Austria also takes the responsibility of CO2 reductions at national level and financial support for adaptation measures to the developing countries that suffer most from the consequences of climate change.”The Sherpas are visiting the Federal President as a part of the European Expedition under WWF’s Climate for Life Campaign. Later that day, the Sherpas were also received in the Ministry of Environment by General Secretary Reinhard Mang. After the visit to Austria, they will travel to Brussels and then to the Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen.
“Climate change is already a reality in Nepal. We first saw mosquitoes in Namche Bazaar in almost 3,500 meters, and even flies in the base camp of Mount Everest at 5,360 meters,” said Apa Sherpa, the 19 times Everest summiteer.
The two mountaineers Apa and Dawa Sherpa are important climate witnesses and have met high -level government officials, mayors, parliamentarians and celebrities - including Reinhold Messner in Europe – in their quest to raise awareness about the impacts of Climate Change in the Himalayas. The 49-year-old Apa Sherpa almost lost his life and his family in the Dig Tsho glacial lake outburst flood in 1985. All of his property was washed away in the incident. Due to climate change, the glacier lakes are being filled up with huge amounts of additional melt water. In Nepal alone, there are more than 2,000 glacial lakes. Forty four glacial lakes in Nepal and Bhutan are potentially dangerous, threatening the life and the agricultural areas of the Himalayas.
“When the glacial lake outburst floods occur, the floods destroy everything in the vicinity," said Prashant Singh, Climate-for-Life Campaign Lead. "When the glaciers will be gone, it will create a water shortage and directly impact the billions of people living in the drainage system of the Himalayas."
There are 3,252 glaciers with a total area of 5,323 square kilometers in Nepal. The glaciers of the Himalayas are the source of Asia's biggest rivers - the Ganga, Indus, Brahmaputra, Mekong, Yangtze and others. Almost one third of the world's population is depending on the waters of these rivers. Currently two thirds of all the glaciers are retreating. The average temperature has already increased by almost two degrees. Per decade, the temperature in Nepal is increasing by nearly half a degree. In the coming decades, climate experts expect a further warming of about two to four degrees. “If the temperature continues to rise we might lose glacier areas of up to 70 percent,” warned Singh. For the Ganga River experts predict to be up to two thirds less water.
“The lives of hundreds of millions of Indians are in jeopardy,” said Dawa Steven Sherpa. The 24-year-old Dawa has already climbed four peaks over 8,000 meters including Mount Everest twice. The multiple international award-winning mountaineer also speaks excellent German and is a WWF Climate Ambassador. He reports of melting glaciers, eroded hillsides, droughts in winter and floods in the summer.
For more news: www.hofburg.at
