Mount Everest is the tallest most dangerous mountain in the world. Located in the Himalayas on the border of China and Nepal it is a spiritual leader for the communities that live in the Himalayas. But for the tourists who travel there to embark on a vigorous life-changing journey it is just a mountain that they hope to conquer. Everest has been a beacon for climbers and adventurers for over 50 years, starting in 1953 when Sir Edumund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay his Sherpa, climbed it for the first time. Everest or Sagarmatha, meaning goddess of the sky the Nepalese name for Mount Everest, has since been climbed by thousands people, both experienced and not experienced. As more time has passed and climbers and tourists from all over the world continue to flock to the mountain, more environmental degradation has plagued the area and the communities of the Himalayas, Nepal and Tibet. As Mount Everest becomes a beacon of greatness more and more people wish to climb, or pay to be assisted to climb. The increased human activity on such a majestic natural landscape has changed the make up of the land and increased pollution and environmental degradation. In this paper the impacts of human activity and pollution on the communities of the Himalayas and Mt. Everest will be researched and explained through the World-Systems Theory. The World-Systems Theory is a theory that looks at a social analysis of the world and the way the world is made up into core and peripheral countries. This theory will help explain the effects of environmental degradation on the Himalayas due to excess tourism in the past decade.
Mount Everest standing at 29,035 feet above sea level is one of the most beautiful creations of nature in our current lifetime. However...
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... environmental degradation. In this paper the impacts of human activity on the communities of the Himalayas and Mt. Everest proved to increase environmental degradation at the cost of the Himalayan communities. The World-Systems Theory was used to explain the issue of core countries and peripheral countries and how their different roles in the world system have shaped environmental impacts. There is great certainty that our growing population has disrupted the ecosystem in many negative ways, it is just a matter of time before the majestic Mt. Everest is destroyed forever. But for now, as the world continues to grow and Mount Everest continues to be a beacon for those who seek adventure or thrill it will continue to be degraded unless regulation is developed. Until then Mount Everest will continue to be “the highest junkyard on the face of the Earth.” (Barry Bishop)
Mount Everest is the highest mountain on Earth, reaching 8848 meters above sea level. It is located in the Himalayas, which are located in Nepal. The first to climb Mt Everest were Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay, in 1953. Many have climbed it since then, both young and old, however some things have changed since 1953. Mount Everest grows 4 millimeters higher each year due to geologic uplift. Mount Everest was named after George Everest, who was Surveyor General of India as he discovered it in 1841.
In the book “Collapse” written and theorized by Jared Diamond, historical societies known for their peril due to environmental and human catastrophes. Jared Diamond analyzes the root causes of failed societies and uses his knowledge to depict today’s warning signs. The main focus of this book is to present clear and undeniable evidence that human activities corrupted the environment. To prove this Diamon used past societies, modern societies, and social business societies as a foundation. The most specific and beneficial theories that Diamond analyzes would be the decline of biodiversity on Easter Island, the deforestation of the Greenland Norse, the mining mismanagements in Australia and big businesses.
Mount Everest is the world’s highest mountain peaking into the upper troposphere and lower stratosphere at 8848
These experienced climbers have the worst job of all, with an astonishing “annual fatality rate of 4,035 per 100,000 full-time” over these past ten years(Morrow 2). Apart from having to guide tourist climbers many times during the season, they have to carrying necessary equipment for them making the trip even more hazardous. For example, they drag across the ice large “loads of fuel, food, ropes, oxygen and tents for clients”(Morrow 3}. That’s not all, the Everest climbing company and the Nepalese government make a fortune each year with their tourist attraction, and give Sherpa a pity amount of their earnings; and these climbers put themselves at risk each time. To prove it, “Hardly any this money is received by the Sherpa themselves”, even though their lives are in danger; if anything happened to a Sherpa they will leave “their family in economic crisis”(Morrow 3). The Sherpas have little to no life insurance benefits, they can be killed and their families would barely be taken care of. This can seen when an avalanche cost the lives of 13, and in response to a strike it “would only provide a pittance of 40,000 rupees, or $US410”(Morrow 1). Moreover since tourists are the ones paying and Sherpas, they are better suited and occupied while
Mountains—they are unequivocally distinctive. Some would believe that mountains are God’s creation that surpasses the heavens, and others would say that the world evolved to form such megalithic structures. Whatever the case, no other creation can match the height of Mount Everest. The tallest man-made buildings are not in relative comparison. When beholding the site of Burj Khalifa, the tallest skyscraper in the world, an individual could never imagine a more vast creation. Burj Khalifa stands erect at over 828 meters or 2,716.5 feet. However, Mount Everest shadows this height at an astonishing 8,850 meters above sea level. What an incredible record! Now, one can consider how extraordinarily difficult it would be to climb and surpass a mountain of such stature. A mountain is formed out of many stones on top of one another. Life is comprised of many moments in a similar fashion. In the book by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin, Three Cups of Tea, mountains are a part of ordinary life. Greg Mortenson’s mission to climb the second highest mountain, K2, quickly turned into a dramatic story of “One Man’s Mission to Promote Peace… One School at a Time”. Each moment was a defining period of time in his life and of the lives around him.
Current definitions of natural resources generally rely on the argument by Zimmerman (1933), where he stated that “resources are not, they become.” Resources are therefore described as appraisals that are mediated culturally for the physical environment (@@@). These appraisals are shaped by belief systems, political institutions, economic factors, and social attributes. Using this perspective, resource geography aims at explaining how the global economy is differentiated and integrated by these mediations. It also aims at examining the environmental outcomes and the wellbeing
While Rachel Carson’s “The Obligation to Endure”, Christopher Kemp’s "Medieval Planet", and Jared Diamond’s “The Ends of the World as We Know Them” all cover subjects relating to environmental issues, each author goes about purveying his or her message in a different manner. Kemp’s New Scientist article explains humanity’s environmental effects by imagining a world in which we never existed and hypothesizing how it would look and function with our absence. Carson’s essay depicts a frightening reality about the current state of humanity and the environment. She warns readers about how we are the only species who possess the capability to disrupt and even destroy Earth’s natural patterns. Diamond articulates his work with an unusual spin, using examples of historical civilizations that have snuffed themselves out by their own progress or poor relationship with the environment. The main message conveyed in Diamond's essay is that we are just as capable of choking ourselves out by our own doing today as were the historical civilizations that suffered the same fate. Despite their differing focuses, each article agrees that humans are outgrowing the finite amount of resources that the Earth can provide. A delicate symbiotic relationship between life and the environment has been maintained throughout time. Life on Earth was shaped by the constantly changing climate and surroundings. However, humans have gained the capacity to transcend this relationship. Through our ingenuity and industrialism, we have separated ourselves from natural restrictions. Because of this progress, we have been destroying the natural cycles of Earth’s environment and continue to do so at an alarming rate. Humanity has become Earth’s infection, ravaging the worl...
The Antarctic’s ice melt and the accelerating sea level rise, growing number of large wildfires, intense heat wave shocks, severe drought and blizzards, disrupted and decreased food supply, and the extreme storm events are increasing to happen in many areas world wide, and these are just few of many consequences of global warming. The fossil fuel like coal, natural gas, and oil we burn for energy, plus the loss of forests due to disforestation in the southern hemisphere are also big contributors to climate change. In the past three decades, every single year was warmer then the previous year, and the warmest 12 years were recorded since 1998. We are overburdening our atmosphere with green house emissions and trapping the heat, and recently, the carbon dioxide level in the atmosphere has reached 400 pmm. Not just environmental issues are rising due to carbon dioxide increase, but more and miscellaneous issues are appearing as climate change becomes more severe. For example, regional and local analyses and models agree that Mongolia has become noticeably warmer and this temperature rise is relevant in damaging their millennial of the historic nomadic lifestyle and even brought it to the peek of extinction. The Mongolian nomadic pastoralists became highly vulnerable to many unusual climate impacts and extreme temperature fluctuation that have led to inadequate pastureland and loss of an enormous number of livestock. Herders are facing hostile environmental conditions that led to entrenched pastoral poverty. This essay mainly focuses on the climate change impacts on the qualitative value of indigenous culture and nomadic life style. In addition, there is a starting t...
1998-1999 World Resources: A Guide to the Global Environment. Environmental Change and Human Health. A Joint Publication by the World Resources Institute, the World Bank, the United Nations Environmental Programme, and the United Nations Development Programme. Oxford University Press, New York, NY 1998.
There is no hesitation when it comes to whether humans impact the global environment. However, it is questioned in whether human’s ecological footprint is either negatively or positively impacting. In clear perspective, humans share from both sides and their ecological footprint is noted towards whether it will benefit or harm the environment around them. Topics such as overpopulation, pollution, biomagnification, and deforestation are all human impacted and can harm the environment, but some include benefits into helping the world around us with solutions to their problems.
“Sherpa”, a term derived from words meaning “people” and “east”, refers to a cultural groupthat numbers about 35,000 and whose members occupy parts of India, Nepal, Tibet and Bhutan (Sherpa Friendship Asscn,1999:1), though most groups are found in Nepal (Stevens 1993: 31). It is generally understood that the Sherpa came to Nepal from eastern Tibet about 500 years ago (www.rip.physics.unk.edu/Nepal/NPE 1999:2). This research paper will focus on the Nepalese Sherpa. It will explore socio-ecological aspects of their lives, including their cultural and ecological adaptations. In addition, it will highlight changes in Sherpa culture and the relationship brought about by outside influences.
Mount Everest, the world’s highest point at 29,035 feet, is a special trophy among high altitude mountaineers. Standing atop the world’s highest point a hypoxic climber clad in a fluorescent down suit is above everything else on the planet, for a moment that individual can reach farther into the sky than any other. Arms raised in a victorious salute, a climber feels like they have conquered something that few others ever have, and justifiably so. The summit is usually the final fruition of months, sometimes years of planning, weeks of travel and acclimatization, and days of endless plodding at a feeble, learning-to-walk pace.
Overpopulation can be seen as one of the key factors responsible for the state of our rapidly decaying earth. Developments in medicine, agriculture and technology have allowed for the human race to take over all other species and be excluded from the natural food chain. Humans, particularly westerners, lead lives of extreme consumption that take huge tolls not only on the earth but also on certain groups within society. A great division has developed between the western world and the third world.
Social ecology observes humans as the main cause of the destroyed earth, by overpopulating it. The world is made up of numerous people, with different races and religions, it’s because of the bad habits men and women have created which have lead to a polluted earth (Carlson, Felton, 2001). Mur...
Because of international development in the top, the social space in the mountain disadvantages individuals at the bottom. The World Bank Development Report for 2009, social space is conceptualized as the mountain, which represents individuals networked within space. The people within the social space contribute to the system by providing human capital to sustain the mountain, which represents the center of the network. However, the poor individuals networked in the social space are ostracized, underpaid, and overworked. The lives of the colonized individuals networked in the social space are equally importance as the colonizers. Understanding who controls the social space in the mountain is significant to recognize barriers and boundaries for