Miner speaks with Smithsonian Magazine about Everest oxygen study
Kimberley Miner spoke to Smithsonian Magazine about a study exploring how climate change has altered oxygen levels at Mount Everest. The study, which the assistant professor at the Climate Change Institute was not involved in, revealed that the rise in air pressure resulting from climate change near the summit has made oxygen more available. It also showed how dramatic the variability in air pressure can be. “Looking at the way that oxygen is affected in the higher alpine environments [is] something that probably doesn’t strike people immediately when you talk about climate change, but these secondary impacts could have very specific effects on climbers and mountaineers [and are] also just as significant,” Miner said. The authors of the study joined Miner and other CCI researchers in the 2019 National Geographic and Rolex Perpetual Planet Everest Expedition, the most comprehensive scientific expedition to Mount Everest.