Each mountain has a different character – some are benign, some wicked and some secret
- Tsering Dawa
A group of experts with personal and contrasting experiences of some of the world’s most breathtakingly beautiful and extreme environments will be taking part in a public discussion, ‘Mountaineering in a Changing Climate’, on Friday (22 November). The event, which is free and open to all, will take place in the Lady Mitchell Hall on the Sidgwick Site, Cambridge University, from 5pm.
For centuries the world’s most majestic mountain ranges – among them the Alps and Himalayas - have acted as a magnet for explorers. From the early 20th century onwards, groups of climbers travelled thousands of miles to test themselves in some of the toughest conditions on earth. Over the past few years mountains have taken on a new role as important indicators of changes in the world’s climate. The shifting patterns observed in these landscapes have proved central to a world-wide debate about global warming.
The event on Friday will bring together a panel of experts to discuss these changes, what they reveal in terms of threats to vulnerable environments and peoples around the world - and, in particular, draw attention to urgent questions about the stewardship of mountains. Notably, there will be contributions from two Tibetan scholars who will offer regional, cultural and spiritual viewpoints on mankind’s subtle and enduring relationship with the extreme landscapes of their birthplaces.
The keynote speakers will include two of the world’s best known mountaineers –the British climber Doug Scott and the Austrian climber Kurt Diemberger - and the eminent glaciologist George Kaser from the Institute of Meteorology and Geophysics at the University of Innsbruck. Their first-hand knowledge of mountains, gained over many years of climbing and observation of changes, offers a unique insight into the transformations of our environment over time.
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Image: The Valley of Silence, or Western Cwm
Credit: Kurt Diemberger
Reproduced courtesy of the University of Cambridge
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