Spring is go time for climbers who hope to summit Mount Everest, Earth鈥檚 highest peak above sea level.聽聽from around the world travel to Asia in April and May, headed for base camps in Nepal and Tibet.
But jagged peaks won鈥檛 be the only thing they see. Especially on Everest鈥檚 more heavily traversed Nepal side, they鈥檒l find fields of garbage 鈥� including cans, bottles, plastic and human and animal excrement.
Each year, more than 60,000 trekkers and climbers visit the聽, a high-altitude swath of the Khumbu region in northeast Nepal that includes Everest and seven other peaks. Some 400 to 500 climbers attempt to summit Everest every year.
The trash problem聽聽in the 1980s and 1990s, when climbing on the mountain and trekking in Khumbu began to increase. Climber and trekker numbers聽.
Most coverage of this issue focuses on negative and sensational aspects, such as the聽聽who remain where they died on the mountain because removal operations are risky and expensive.