Situated 16,600 feet above sea level and neighboring the Mount Everest base camp in Nepal, the Pyramid International Laboratory/Observatory is one of the world’s oldest and most prolific high-altitude research facilities. But it’s falling apart.
The lab’s location—at a high altitude and low latitude—makes it crucial to research on everything from climate change and biodiversity to high-altitude physiology and the effects of pollution, scientists say. After CNR pulled its funding from the lab in 2014, however, a few founding members and collaborating institutes donated enough to pay for Bista’s salary and maintenance of the equipment to keep up with bare-bones monitoring of the environment.
Science at the Top of the World The Pyramid got its start in 1986, when an American expedition concluded that K2 was the world’s tallest mountain. Italian geologist and cartographer Ardito Desio and mountaineer Agostino da Polenza were doubtful of that claim. They embarked on a mission to measure the height of both K2 and Mount Everest using the latest GPS technology at the time with funding from CNR.
From the early 1990s to the early 2000s, Ev-K2-CNR supported several multidisciplinary studies and expeditions: It established high-altitude seismic stations, carried out several assessments on climate change, worked on hydrologic modeling to predict precipitation and river discharge, launched various physiological investigations for high-altitude survival, established dedicated in situ weather-station-calibration sites, registered the facility as a global atmospheric watch station for...
The Hope Going Forward There is no denying the potential of the Pyramid, says Paul Mayewski, a glaciologist at the University of Maine, because climate change and its impacts are different in different parts of the world. Studies in recent years have also confirmed that high mountains are more vulnerable to heating effects than the lowlands, and scientists need more research assessments to monitor these changes in places like the Himalayas.
The facility can also serve as a valuable base for carrying out physiological and medical research for mountaineers, porters and local communities. “As the mountain air is getting hotter, humid and polluted, it can have a significant impact upon mountaineers’ respiratory and cardiac condition,” says Annalisa Cogo, a pulmonologist at the University of Ferrara in Italy.
How much do I owe?
I am sure that if they can produce the 'correct' climate data they will get funding.
I could be talked into volunteering for the remodel team.
Way to go
But if you can fly drones to collect info why invest in cement buildings?!
Mount Everest is falling apart That IS bad!
Did someone tell the the climate has been changing for five billion years and they figured out they were wasting their time?
At some point we gotta stop 'observing' and come up with solutions! 😡
There's a reason it's falling apart. The 'climate science' is now declared 'settled' and no more research is encouraged as it may (as it actually does) reveal the shortcomings of the 'settled' bit. 😀😀 So, crucial or not, nobody seems to care anymore
How much were you paid for this tripe?