20 Apr 2007 - My name
is Norbu Sherpa. I am 41 years old and I
am a trekking guide in the Khumbu region
in Nepal, not far from Mt Everest, the highest
peak of the world. I think this is one of
the most beautiful places in the world and
I feel proud that I live and work here.
I was born in the small village of Ghat
to the son of a senior monk, Lama Ang Dorja
Sherpa. After completing my secondary education
I took classes at a monastery for two years
to become a monk. I finished the training
and became a junior monk. I was ready to
follow in my father’s footsteps.
The flood
My career, however, took a dramatically
different turn on 4 August 1985 when a glacier
lake above my village collapsed. My family
and I were all in our house when we heard
a big explosion. We rushed outside to see
what had happened. To our astonishment we
saw a big black stream of mud, including
rocks and trees, rushing down the mountain.
We scrambled about collecting a few belongings
which we could carry and ran out of the
house. We got out just in time. In a few
minutes the flood had swept away five houses
including mine, as well as cattle and crops.
I saw my cow drowning in the flood near
a suspended bridge. The flood kept raging
on for hours and washed away all our possessions.
Those were the most distressing hours of
my life.
The next morning we went to the place where
our house once stood, but it was as if the
houses had never been there. Our neighbours
who had not lost their homes came to help
us to look for our possessions. There I
was, homeless, landless and jobless at the
age of 19. But still I thank God that the
flood occurred during day time. Had it occurred
during night it would have washed away everything,
including us.
Later on we came to know that the flood
had also washed away an almost completed
hydropower plant in Thamo, which cost USD$1.5
million. Bridges were damaged and lines
of communication were cut off.
Melting glaciers
In order to earn a living and support my
family I had to give up my career as a monk.
I decided to start a trekking business.
In the past 20 years I have participated
in various expeditions. I have trekked Mt
Everest three times and scaled many famous
mountains: Mt. Choyo (8100m), Mt Dhaulagari
(8200m), Mt Sheeapangama (8200m), Mt Borunja
(7000m) and many more. And in that time
I also started a family – and a business
- of my own. My wife Kandu runs the tourist
lodge and restaurant which we own in Ghat.
I have more than two decades of trekking
experience in this region. There have been
many occasions where I have noticed changes
in the glacier environment. I have seen
many glaciers melting and glacier lakes
expanding. These expansions of the lakes
greatly increase the risk of more glacial
lake outburst flood (GLOF) events occurring
in our region.
I go to the Mt Everest Base Camp about
4 to 5 times a year. The glacier used to
be three hours away; now it has shifted
upward and you can actually have a base
camp nearer to where the foot of the mountain
is. Before, an expedition would take around
90 to 100 days and there was no guarantee
of success. Now people come for 30 to 40
days and complete the climb.
We are noticing many other climate changes
in my village and its surroundings. Rainfall
has declined and we are experiencing more
droughts; trees are dying. This winter there
was no snow and no rainfall. Instead, we
had snowstorms when we least expected them,
in spring, baffling locals and tourists
alike.
We normally plant potatoes in February
and March and havest them from July to August.
However, due to the lack of rainfall we
have been unable to grow anything at all
this year.
In the old days when we still had cold
winters we made the walls of our houses
about 20cm thick, so they would be well
insulated. Now we only have to make them
about 8cm thick because there’s less snowfall
and it’s just not as cold as it used to
be.
More floods
I am not the only person whose life was
impacted on by the Dig Tsho flood in 1985.
There are many other families in Ghat who
were also badly affected. Sadly that event
will not be the last time these kinds of
disasters happened. There are many more
glacier lakes on the verge of expanding
and collapsing. I see them all the time
when I go trekking.
About 2 years ago the Imja glacier lake
was small and you could walk around it.
But now it is much bigger and is expanding
2 to 3 metres every year. Whenever I trek
to the lake, the biggest glacier lake of
Khumbu region, my body starts shaking, reminding
me of the event that occurred in my village
20 years back. The terror that I experienced
when I was young flashes in front of me
and reminds me of the sorrow and misery
that we were forced into.
I am now 40 years old and fear that more
floods will occur. I would not be able to
restore my life a second time, nor would
any villager be able to sustain their livelihoods.
So I pray it won’t repeat again and sadly
that is all I can do.
Natural beauty at risk
Through my work as a trekking guide and
through my participation in various community
groups, I have come to understand that the
entire world community praises the natural
beauty of my region. I feel happy when I
think about this. But it makes me sad to
realize that this natural beauty is now
at risk. We are facing lots of environmental
problems in our daily lives. What worries
me most is global warming. The majestic
Himalaya Mountains and glaciers that have
stood for thousands of years are now melting
away, forming glacier lakes.
We as mountain people don’t normally have
access to the various international media
and other fora where we can express how
threatening it feels to live a life in the
mountains. WWF’s Climate Witness initiative
has given me a platform to tell the world
about the impact of climate change that
we are facing now.
I would like to request everyone around
the world to take climate change seriously
and act quickly to reduce the impacts.
Scientific background
Scientific analysis has shown that annual
temperature increase in the Trans-Himalaya
is on average 0.09 degress Celsius. The
annual temperature increase throughout Nepal
is 0.06 degrees Celsius. This high increase
in temperature has resulted in melting of
glaciers, formation of glacial lakes, which
have resulted in glacial lake outburst floods
(GLOF). Sixty-seven percent of glaciers
are retreating in the Himalayas and climate
change has been identified as the major
factor.
