Alton Byers photographs glacial lakes forming near the terminus of the Kangchenjunga glacier in eastern Nepal. Photo by Shristi Karki.

The not-so-permanent frost (Nepali Times)

Sept. 13, 2024

Rapid thawing of the Himalayan ice-cap is compounded by little-studied melting of permafrost that destabilizes peaks, write Wilfried Haeberli and Alton Byers.

The Imja Glacier was in 1960 one of the largest in the Khumbu region and is now a lake. Photos by Erwin Schneider / Alton Byers

Las fotos de cien años de escaladas al Everest muestran el impacto del deshielo: “Es la escena de un crimen” (El Diario)

June 17, 2024

Scientists, climbers and local communities come together to warn of the impact of warming on the Himalayas, which is evident when comparing photographs taken over time, and puts the lives of millions of people at risk. Many of the most revealing photographs of the valleys near Everest have been taken by Alton Byers, who has been repeating the photos made by pioneering climbers for years to show the spectacular changes taking place in this region.

Six people stand behind a low table, which holds a number of silicon molds of animal footprints, at the Natural History Museum in Kathmandu, May 2023. They include Alton Byers (third from left) and Ganesh Bahadur Thapa (fourth from left).

Tracking Himalayan wildlife (Nepali Times)

June 13, 2024

The Natural History Museum in Kathmandu revives the ancient art of tracking with an exhibit that includes casts of wildlife tracks made by INSTAAR research scientist Alton Byers.

Piles of white trash bags collected from the Everest region, with labels in multiple languages

Climbers have turned Mount Everest into a high-altitude garbage dump, but sustainable solutions are within reach (The Conversation)

May 1, 2024

Mountain tourism brings revenues to Nepal but leaves a mess behind. Local and international groups are offering new cleanup strategies. INSTAAR research scientist Alton Byers and his colleague Suzanne OConnell discuss the scope of the problem, pollution from the waste, and solutions for sustainable tourism.

Climbers in a dense line walk up a slope on Mt Everest. Up to 60,000 tourists visit the National Park each year.

Mount Everest is turning into the world's highest garbage dump (Daily Mail)

Feb. 19, 2024

Alton Byers is quoted in this article on the problem of waste left behind on Mount Everest and the surrounding Sagamartha National Park in Nepal.

Nangama glacial lake, Kanchenjunga Conservation Area, source of the 1960 glacial lake outburst flood, May 2019. Photo by Alton Byers.

Tracing past glacial floods in Kangchenjunga (Nepali Times)

Sept. 21, 2020

Satellite imagery is useful, but involving local people in research can often help fill gaps in research of glacial floods. Article by Alton Byers in the Nepali Times shares some of the detailed knowledge of local residents who witnessed glacial lake outburst floods (GLOF) over the last four decades in the Kangchenjunga area of Nepal.