Climate scientists have observed a peculiar cooling trend in Himalayan glaciers over the past 15 years. This surprising finding contradicts the overall trend of rising global average temperatures due to climate change. The research, published in the peer-reviewed journal Nature Geoscience, suggests that intensifying winds, known as katabatic winds, are responsible for the cooling trend.
The Pyramid International Observatory, located on the southern face of Mount Everest, has been collecting data on various weather measurements since the early ’90s. Scientists noticed a decrease in the maximum daytime temperature during the warmer months from May to October, with a decrease of around 0.040 °C per year over the last 15 years. Cross-checking the data with other weather stations confirmed that this cooling trend was not limited to the glaciers around Mount Everest but was present across the entire Himalayas.
The cooling trend is thought to be caused by k
