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Mountaineer Um Hong-gil expresses concern over Nepal floods, links to climate change
🇰🇷 South Korea /Environment & Climate

Mountaineer Um Hong-gil expresses concern over Nepal floods, links to climate change

From Dong-A Ilbo · () Korean

Translated from Korean and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

News Named sources Context piece
  • Mountaineer Um Hong-gil, the first to scale all 16 Himalayan peaks over 8,000 meters, recently summited an unclimbed peak in Nepal.
  • He expressed distress over Nepal's severe floods, which caused over 100 deaths and nearly 1,000 missing.
  • Um attributed the increasing frequency of such disasters to global warming, citing melting glaciers and the formation of glacial lakes.

Renowned mountaineer Um Hong-gil, who recently conquered the unclimbed peak 'Juggal' (6,590m) in Nepal, has voiced profound concern over the recent devastating floods that have claimed over 100 lives and left nearly 1,000 people missing.

I visited there just two months ago, and I never imagined such a huge disaster would happen...

— Um Hong-gilExpressing shock and sorrow over the Nepal floods.

Um, who has a deep connection with Nepal through his humanitarian efforts building schools, recently visited the affected region in northern Rasuwa just two months prior to the disaster. He noted that the area is a popular pilgrimage route for Hindus heading to Mount Kailash and for Tibetan Buddhists. "I visited there just two months ago, and I never imagined such a huge disaster would happen...", he lamented.

Every time I visit Nepal, I think that we are increasing the risks due to 'global warming' created by humans.

— Um Hong-gilLinking the disaster to human impact on the environment.

He directly linked the escalating natural disasters to human-induced global warming. "Every time I visit Nepal, I think that we are increasing the risks due to 'global warming' created by humans," Um stated. He explained that melting glaciers in the Himalayas are forming glacial lakes, which can burst and cause catastrophic floods, especially when combined with factors like earthquakes or landslides. He warned that such events are likely to become more frequent.

Melting glaciers are forming glacial lakes, which can burst and cause unimaginable disasters.

— Um Hong-gilExplaining the mechanism behind the floods.

Recalling his experiences since the 1980s, Um observed a significant reduction in glaciers and a deepening of mountain valleys. He noted that unlike in the past when only snow and ice melted and refroze, recent warming causes ice to mix with soil and debris, preventing rapid freezing and shrinking the glaciers. "There is no other explanation than global warming," he asserted, urging the establishment of a dedicated agency to monitor and manage these glacial lakes to prepare for potential future disasters.

There is no other explanation than global warming.

— Um Hong-gilAttributing the environmental changes to climate change.
About this summary

Originally published by Dong-A Ilbo in Korean. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

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