"6,000 Liters a Day... Melting Glaciers": The Fear Triggered by Urine

The activities of climbers visiting Mount Everest could melt approximately 2,500 tons of glacier ice and snow each year, according to a research study.

The analysis shows that the impact comes not only from fuel used for heating and cooking, but also from the heat of urine discharged by climbers.

An international research team, including a senior surveying official from Nepal's Ministry of Land Management, recently published their analysis of the Khumbu Glacier—where base camps along the Nepal side of Everest are located—in the international academic journal Regional Environmental Change.

During the spring climbing season, thousands of climbers, guides, and support staff flock to Everest Base Camp, which operates cafes, high-speed internet, hot shower facilities, and even tents equipped with heated floors.

According to the researchers, operating 1,600 tents at the base camp for about 50 days in the spring of 2023 consumed 824 cylinders of liquefied petroleum gas, 18,935 liters of kerosene, and 5,130 liters of gasoline.

Combining the fuel used for cooking, heating, and power generation with the heat transferred from human urine, it is estimated that a total of 849,174 megajoules of thermal energy was generated—enough energy to melt 2,492 tons of glacier ice and snow.

When 2,500 tons of ice and snow melt into water, it is an amount equivalent to filling an international standard Olympic swimming pool.

In particular, the analysis showed that the amount of glacier melted by human urine alone is substantial.

Because people drink large amounts of water at high altitudes to prevent dehydration, thousands of climbers and guides discharge more than 6,000 liters of urine a day.

While feces are collected in storage tanks and transported down the mountain, a significant amount of urine is discharged directly onto the glacier.

The researchers estimated that the heat transferred from urine alone can melt about 154 tons of ice in a single season.

The researchers explained that this calculation did not include the impact of helicopter operations, body heat from climbers, or pack animals such as yaks transporting supplies, meaning the actual impact of human activity could be even greater.

The main cause of the melting Everest glaciers is global climate change, but the researchers pointed out that the current practice of thousands of people crowding onto glaciers that are already melting rapidly and generating additional heat is not sustainable.

(Reported by Jung Da-eun, Video by Lee Eui-sun, Design by Lee Jeong-ju, Produced by SBS Digital News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.