Climate change is hitting the hardest in the world’s mountain ranges. We learn how Leeds glaciologist Professor Duncan Quincey is helping locals at the world’s highest glacier.

At 5,000m, the Khumbu glacier in Nepal is the highest in the world. It is at the base of Mount Everest, and that causes huge challenges for glaciologist, Professor Duncan Quincey.

Camping on the glacier, Duncan and the research team contend with harsh, dry conditions, dealing with the cold and altitude sickness: “You get around 50% of the work done compared to sea level conditions due to exhaustion. There’s also nowhere to wash except meltwater ponds, which are extremely cold – you certainly know about it when you get in there.”

But he has to be here, where climate change is hitting the hardest – and fastest. These iconic landscapes will soon be hard to recognise. “The glaciers are melting, that’s a fact,” said Professor Duncan Quincey. “What is important now is finding out how fast, and what that will mean for the landscape and the people.”

At an upcoming online Meet the Researchers event – ‘Treading on thin ice: a looming water crisis in the Third Pole’, on 29 March 2023, Professor Duncan Quincey will talk about his unique work on world’s highest glacier in Nepal.

Tents at the foot of the Himalayan mountains
Duncan and the research team contend with harsh, dry conditions, dealing with the cold and altitude sickness.
Whereas many research groups use satellite imagery to establish patterns within a general region, Duncan and his team work on individual systems and glaciers. They gather data from the glaciers themselves – most recently drilling into the ice to explore their interiors.

“We melted a 160m long borehole into the ice and sent our temperature sensors down there.

“The lowest temperature was just -3.3 degrees. That means it’s at the melting point, so in the next decade, it’s likely to be disappearing fast.”

A significant part of Duncan’s work aims to establish what this might mean for the landscape and the people of the region. As well as flooding events becoming more likely, the supply of water to local communities is a key issue.

“Millions of people depend on the water from the mountains – for irrigation, hydropower, sanitation – so if we can evaluate what the changes are, we can evaluate prospects for the next 40 to 50 years.”

Through workshops, household surveys and informal conversation, Duncan has established that it is the unpredictability of the changing system that causes most problems. “The supply of water is more variable than it used to be,” Duncan said. “The extremes are more common, and the whole system is less linear.

“People need to adapt. Our work is about giving them the best chance to do that.”