|
|
PHOTOGRAPH AND VIDEO BY ARBINDRA KHADKA
|
|
It was the highest weather station on Earth. Then, after seven months of producing important data, it succumbed to extreme conditions.
Now, reinforced against the wind, and roughly 160 feet lower than Everest’s summit, a replacement weather station is running on the peak’s southeast side. It took three hours to install, by a National Geographic Society climbing team (pictured above) braving steady winds and warmed by 24-volt batteries in their down suits.
The new station now has three separate—and now stronger and better anchored—wind sensors, says climate scientist and team member Tom Matthews, whose right fingers went wooden with frostbite during the ascent. “We have a good chance of measuring a full winter’s wind,” the Nat Geo Explorer told us. “That would be fascinating.”
Weather data from the roof of the world has become a point of pride for nations in a way that Everest summits once were. This year, another meteorological station appeared high up on the mountain’s Tibetan side. It is China’s. Let the forecasts begin!
Please consider supporting our storytelling by subscribing here. Thanks!
|
|
|
|
