ADDING MULTIMEDIA Utah Resident Takes Climate Change Message to the Top of the World During Record 19th Everest Ascent.Apa Sherpa Unveils Banner on Summit Urging Action on Climate Change WASHINGTON -- Utah Resident Apa Sherpa unveiled a banner on the summit of Mount Everest today telling the world to take urgent action on climate change and save his native Himalayas. The banner containing the WWF See Windows Workflow Foundation. message - "Stop Climate Change, Let the Himalayas Live!" was unveiled as he summited Everest for a record 19th time. Sherpa is all too familiar with the impacts of climate change on his native Nepal, having witnessed firsthand first·hand adj. Received from the original source: firsthand information. first the changing landscape of the Himalayas during his decades of mountaineering mountaineering or mountain climbing Sport of attaining, or attempting to attain, high points in mountainous regions, mainly for the joy of the climb. experience. In addition, he has been a victim of its disastrous consequences - he saw his village washed away when a glacial lake A glacial lake is a lake with origins in a melted glacier. Glacial lakes can be green in color, the result of ground up minerals (rock flour) supporting a large population of algae. burst its banks and washed away half his property and land in 1985. These Glacial Lake Outburst Floods A glacial lake outburst flood (GLOF), also known as a jökulhlaup in Icelandic (A jökulhlaup is technically a sudden and often catastrophic flood that occurs during a volcanic eruption, but is also used to describe other sorts of glacial flooding), can occur when a are one of the most visible impacts of climate change and one that Sherpa hopes to highlight through the Eco-Everest Expedition. It is led by two-time Everest Summiteer sum·mit·eer n. An official who takes part in a summit conference. Dawa Steven Sherpa, a passionate advocate of climate change issues who has also seen the impact of climate change on the Himalayas. Six Americans are on the team. At the summit, Apa also installed a sacred vase personally blessed by the Venerable Rinpoche of Tengboche (Buddhist spiritual leader), containing 400 sacred ingredients intended to restore the sanctity of the Himalayan sacred valleys The Sacred Valley of the Incas is a valley in the Andes of Peru, close to the Inca capital of Cusco. It is fed by numerous rivers which descend through adjoining valleys and gorges, and contains numerous archaeological remains and villages. against the negative impacts of rapid environmental changes. "Apa and Dawa have achieved greatness while carrying the most important message of our time to the top of the world," said Jon Miceler, Director of WWF's Eastern Himalayas Eastern Himalaya is situated between Nepal in the west to Myanmar in the east, occupying Sikkim, Darjeeling, Bhutan and Arunachal Pradesh. The area has been declared a biodiversity hotspot by Conservation International. Program. "Now it's up to the rest of us to save the Himalayas and all of Earth's ecosystems by pushing for a strong international agreement to tackle climate change." The event is a part of the "Climate for Life" campaign (http://climate4life.org/) being led by WWF Nepal to raise awareness of Climate Change impacts in the Himalayas. There will be multiple events throughout 2009 highlighting the issues at stake culminating into a concerted effort at the global treaty negotiations in Copenhagen in December. "The well being of Himalayas is crucial for economic development of Nepal," said Mr. Ganesh Sah, Nepal's Minister for Environment, Science and Technology. "It's only by coming together that we can deliver this message emphatically em·phat·ic adj. 1. Expressed or performed with emphasis: responded with an emphatic "no." 2. Forceful and definite in expression or action. 3. to the world." "We congratulate Apa, Dawa and the entire Eco-Everest Expedition, who achieved their mission despite the tragic loss of a team member, Lhakpa Nuru Sherpa, in an avalanche on May 6," Miceler said. Note: Photos and interviews with the team are available by contacting Lee Poston at 202-299-6442 or lee.poston@wwfus.org A photo of Apa at the summit will be offered as soon as it is available. ABOUT WORLD WILDLIFE FUND WWF is the world's leading conservation organization, working in 100 countries for nearly half a century. With the support of almost 5 million members worldwide, WWF is dedicated to delivering science-based solutions to preserve the diversity and abundance of life on Earth, halt the degradation of the environment and combat climate change. Visit www.worldwildlife.org to learn more. Photos/Multimedia Gallery Available: http://www.businesswire.com/cgi-bin/mmg.cgi?eid=5972026&lang=en |
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