Everest Glaciology - Truth is in the Ice | National Geographic

The very idea that the highest part of the planet has been impacted by human activity ought to be a real wake-up call for everybody. We're working close to the top of Everest. No other scientists work. The big goal of this National Geographic project is to collect scientific information about climate change and how much glaciers are changing. Glaciers don't lie; the size they are is a consequence of their environment. The things that are captured in them—they're the truth.

Climate change is the most important security issue of the 21st century. It's not just a change in temperature; it's a change in precipitation, flooding, storm patterns, air quality, water quality. Places like the Himalayas have experienced changes that are higher than the average global rate. My involvement has been primarily being able to answer a very big question: is what is going on today something that's part of a natural cycle or not?

You do that by getting as long a record as you can and seeing if what's going on today is markedly different than what's happened in the past. We'll be collecting ice cores, which capture past temperature, precipitation, storm patterns, and biological productivity, layer by layer, going back through time. Ice cores are the most robust tool that we have for looking at past climate. My role here is to collect ice core and snow samples on the way up from Kumbu Glacier across Cumbo Ice Fall up South Call, 8000 meters.

If it's possible, we're going to use a drill that you can compare to a tube with teeth on the end, scraping ice when it fills the tube. The bottom part of the drill will collect the ice core itself. The ice core stays in a tube.

I don't care how fantastic a climber you are; without the Sherpas, all of this equipment wouldn't get up to the various camps. We're going to depend heavily on them to get the ice coring done. Thank you for all your time. So, you guys are all personal gear smash? I think here, yes, everything is here ready. It'll be a real stress on everybody at 8,000 meters and South Call.

Good morning, guys! The early morning working and then same day going to Camp 2. Okay, but that is the fun! Look up there—30 relative humidity, 13 meters per second, 270 more afternoon, negative 27.9, 44 meters per second. That looks pretty good! Excellent!

Yeah, it sounded like you guys had a bit longer time in the ice fall and obviously getting up to Camp Two in the heat than we had anticipated when you guys left at 3 AM.

We are at Camp Four, South Ko. Going 30 minutes from here, there is beautiful blue ice, and I'd love to drill and compare. So you're going by that rock? Ah, up there, because that's the top, and that's the blue ice. We are limited by time, so we try to use all entire time to collect as much as possible.

We are limited by oxygen and temperature, so I think the maximum we can stay there is about two hours, no more. We'll try to go as deep as possible. This is the highest located ice core. The previous one was just about 7000 meters; this one is about 8000 meters above sea level.

All my trip is about this. Are we done? Yeah, we are on top. You're happy? Absolutely! I'm extremely happy.

We've lived in a dream world for a while. We've assumed that the way we have evolved in the last 100 years is a good way for humans to live. My biggest hope for this expedition is that what we find here will awaken people even more to the importance of climate change.