Dive Brief:
- Nepal is once again addressing concerns about waste left by climbers on Mount Everest -- and this time, the focus is on human waste.
- In 2014, the country introduced fines for mountaineers who failed to return from an expedition without eight kilograms of trash, including human waste. Officials have promised stricter enforcement of the rule this year.
- The human waste is causing more problems than litter, according to the chief of the Nepal Mountaineering Association.
Dive Insight:
The human waste is a health risk to those who drink from rivers that receive melted glacial water.
Although there are no precise figures about exactly how much waste is left behind on Mount Everest, clean-up crews embarking on annual missions brought back over 33,000 pounds of waste since 2008.
