By A Staff Reporter
Kathmandu, Oct 26
A large outdoor photo exhibition ‘Himalaya – Changing Landscapes’, which shows the effects of global warming in the mountainous regions of Nepal, by International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) is on display at Berne, Switzerland.
It shows repeat photographs of the Everest regions taken in the 1950s by Austrian and Swiss scientists who conducted extensive studies of the Everest region and photos of the same places taken by mountain geographer Alton Byers revisited the photo sites in 2007. The vast change in landscape over the years according to ICIMOD enables scientists to study the impacts of climate change on the world’s highest mountain range.
The second part of the exhibition,shows photos by renowned Swiss photographers Fritz Berger and Toni Hagen (with repeat photographs by Alex Treadway) taken in the mid hills of Nepal and Pakistan that show landscape and cultural and socioeconomic changes over the years. The stunning repeat panorama views of mountains and glaciers are accompanied by photographs of the scientists conducting glacier research in the 1950s.
"Melting glaciers are just the tip of the iceberg. The changes taking place are alarming, and the time to act is now. Scientific evidence shows that the effects of globalisation and climate change are being felt in even the most remote Himalayan environments. The signs are visible, but there is very little in-depth knowledge or data available from the Himalayan region. Global measures of scientific co-operation and regional collaboration are needed to reduce this information gap. What happens in this remote mountain region is a serious concern for the whole world" said Dr. Andreas Schild, Director General of ICIMOD.
‘The Himalaya – Changing Landscapes’ photo exhibition, which aims at raising awareness on the impacts of climate change and other new challenges that mountain people are facing, was first unveiled in a small format at the Mount Everest Base Camp (5300m) in April 2008, making it the highest photo exhibition in the world. In 2008 the exhibition was held in Stockholm, Barcelona, and Kathmandu, and earlier this year in Bonn, Germany
