World’s Tallest Trash Can

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The commercialization of Mt. Everest has destroyed the environment and communities within the Khumbu region. The vast majority of inexperienced climbers leave trash behind on the mountains. Polluting factories from the modernization have not only destroyed the environment but also destroyed the economy of the Khumbu region.
At 8,848 meters high, Mt.Everest is the world’s tallest trash can. The atmospheric pressure at this altitude is only thirty-three percent of sea level pressure. Because of this almost all mountaineers bring oxygen canisters. Typically these weigh about eight pounds each. These oxygen canister run out of oxygen and climbers discard them to make their load a bit lighter. Inexperienced climbers have been known to discard equipment on the mountain, including: oxygen canisters, tents, rops, human waste and sometimes cadavers. There are legitimate cases where leaving behind gear is vital to survival. There are expeditions to the mountain now where the sole purpose is to pick debris that has been left behind.
The use of oxygen also provides a false sense of security for inexperienced climbers. The use of oxygen prevents them from truly knowing what Everest is like. Inexperienced climbers think that they can acclimate faster and climb faster because they have oxygen that they would otherwise not have. They become more confident in their abilities and often misjudge because of it. The book “Into Thin Air”, was about a 1996 expedition led by Rob Hall, with author Jon Krakauer as a client. Jon depicted how miscalculations and miscommunication about how much oxygen there was on the mountain caused the death of fifteen people. To counter this argument, experienced climbers know that they need oxygen because i...

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