Drones will help clean Everest from garbage
Posted: Thu Dec 12, 2024 4:26 am
Everest has been called the "world's highest garbage dump" - crowds of tourists and adventure seekers leave mountains of garbage there. However, removing such a huge amount of waste is difficult and dangerous, so Nepal is planning to use drones for this.
Nepal has tried all sorts of solutions to tackle its litter problem, including requiring climbers to collect and remove 8kg of trash with each visit or pay a fee of thousands of dollars.
But the bulk of the actual collecting has fallen to the Sherpas, a people who live in the highlands of the Himalayas. They act as guides, helping climbers navigate the mountains, and collecting trash and abandoned supplies.
Everest now has about 50 tons of trash, and removing that much hong kong phone number resource has proven difficult and dangerous. That's why Nepal is planning to clean up the trash with the help of cargo drones that buzz like a swarm of bees.
High-altitude drones can also be used to lay ropes and prepare routes for climbers, reducing the reliance on Sherpas and potentially reducing injuries and deaths.
The drones were designed and manufactured by the Chinese company Da Jiang Innovations (DJI).
In April, the company delivered its first drone to Everest for a test run. One drone was able to move 227 kg of garbage between two camps at the base of the mountain in an hour. This work usually takes 6 hours and requires the participation of Sherpas.
Jagat Bhusal, head of the Khumbu Pasanglhamu rural municipality, where Everest is located, says the drones will save Sherpas from having to navigate through the “dangers of the Khumbu icefall.”
The Khumbu Icefall is a 2.6 km (1.6 mi) stretch of glacier that slowly flows down, directly above Base Camp on the South Col route. In 2024, the Everest climbing season was postponed for 12 days in May due to glacial ice collapsing due to high temperatures. Just last year, an avalanche on Khumbu killed 3 Sherpas.
Nepal has tried all sorts of solutions to tackle its litter problem, including requiring climbers to collect and remove 8kg of trash with each visit or pay a fee of thousands of dollars.
But the bulk of the actual collecting has fallen to the Sherpas, a people who live in the highlands of the Himalayas. They act as guides, helping climbers navigate the mountains, and collecting trash and abandoned supplies.
Everest now has about 50 tons of trash, and removing that much hong kong phone number resource has proven difficult and dangerous. That's why Nepal is planning to clean up the trash with the help of cargo drones that buzz like a swarm of bees.
High-altitude drones can also be used to lay ropes and prepare routes for climbers, reducing the reliance on Sherpas and potentially reducing injuries and deaths.
The drones were designed and manufactured by the Chinese company Da Jiang Innovations (DJI).
In April, the company delivered its first drone to Everest for a test run. One drone was able to move 227 kg of garbage between two camps at the base of the mountain in an hour. This work usually takes 6 hours and requires the participation of Sherpas.
Jagat Bhusal, head of the Khumbu Pasanglhamu rural municipality, where Everest is located, says the drones will save Sherpas from having to navigate through the “dangers of the Khumbu icefall.”
The Khumbu Icefall is a 2.6 km (1.6 mi) stretch of glacier that slowly flows down, directly above Base Camp on the South Col route. In 2024, the Everest climbing season was postponed for 12 days in May due to glacial ice collapsing due to high temperatures. Just last year, an avalanche on Khumbu killed 3 Sherpas.