Part 1:
The 5 Themes of Geography
Movement
Throughout the history of Mount Everest, movement has continuously occurred in many different forms. Migration has been going on for hundreds of years over and across the Himalayan Mountain range, involving both humans and animals. Humans have not always lived on these mountains, and at one point or another had to make the move to wherever they now remain permanently. Of all the different peoples now inhabiting the Himalayas, the Sherpa people are the most famous and well known. About 600 years ago, the now natives had migrated to the Solukhumbu region, where Mount Everest lies. Notably, the bar-headed goose is one of the many species of bird that takes part in this migration, and twice a year will pass over the Himalayas. Throughout the mountain ranges history, while there has been an abundance of physical movement, there has also been much movement involving things that can't be seen. It has been known that Mount Everest is the tallest mountain on earth (above sea level), and this fact has brought explorers, climbers, and adventurers from all over the world the idea of scaling the summit. Technology also made its way onto the mountain, where cell phone reception is now reachable.
Location
The exact location of Mount Everest would be at 27°59’ North latitude, 86°55’ East longitude. The mountain is located directly between, or in the middle of, the distance between Tibet and Nepal, meaning the mountain has divided ownership. The land on the North side of the mountain belongs to Tibet, whilst the land on the south of the mountain belongs to Nepal. Contradictory to its extreme, cold, snowy climate, the mountain lies quite close to the equator, at the same distance as Tampa, Florida.
Region
Mount Everest lies in Southern Asia, on the border of Nepal and Tibet, which is an autonomous region of China. It is part of the Himalaya Mountain range and the Mahalangur Range on the Tibetan Plateau.
Place
Physical Characteristics
Mount Everest is a peak in the Himalayan Mountain range, and its summit is considered to be the highest point on earth above sea level at 8,850 meters. Its terrain is mountainous, as it belongs to the Himalayan range, and is said to be shaped like a three-sided pyramid. The mountain is made up of multiple layers of rock and is covered in ice and snow, as well as glaciers. As these glaciers and as the snow melts, rivers are formed and "used" as a drainage system, allowing the water to go down off the mountain. The main river in which provides drainage to the summit is called the Dudh Kosi River. As for the climate of this region, Mount Everest has an alpine climate, a climate that experiences the some of the coldest temperatures on earth. The warmest average daytime temperature, around the month July, is only about −2 °F (−19 °C) on the summit, and during the coldest month, January, the summit temperatures average around −33 °F (−36 °C) and can drop as low as −76 °F (−60 °C). On the mountain, storms with precipitation of snow and winds of up to 100mph can come up suddenly as well as temperatures having the ability to plummet very quickly. In its higher to highest altitudes, it is hard for living organisms to survive due to the extreme cold, dangerous UV rays, and low levels of oxygen, but at lower altitudes there are many different types of organisms that can. As of recently, there has been a significant increase of plant life in the Himalayan region. Grasses, shrubs and mosses are all growing and expanding in areas surrounding the summit, due to the consequences of global warming. Since the earth is heating up, now species of plant life are being increased in areas where there hadn't previously been life (or as much life).
Human Characteristics
While no person has a permanent home on Mount Everest, there has long been indigenous peoples living in the high mountains of the Himalayas in Nepal. The Sherpa peoples are one of the Tibetan ethnic groups native to this area. The greatest number of Sherpas live in Nepal and speak Nepali in addition to their own language, which is also called Sherpa. Because of the high flow of climbers going in and out of the region, many of the Sherpa peoples offer advice and other kinds of help as a means of work, and because of so speak one or several of the languages of climbers and tourists. This is why their name is often interpreted as "mountain guide". Prior to all the tourism that is now occurring on the mountain, traditionally, their lifestyle has consisted of farming, herding, and trade. Sherpa culture is based on a clan system, and true Sherpa heritage is determined through patrilineage. Their practice is a mixture of Buddhism and animism. Many of these peoples believe that the mountain is the home of the gods, and because of so do not attempt to scale it. Sherpas retain their respect for the mountains and try to prevent foreign climbers from engaging in negative activities, such as killing animals and burning garbage, which they fear will anger the gods.
Human-Environment Interaction
As of recently, there has been a significant increase of the negative impacts being shown of the consequences of the human-environment interaction both directly and indirectly with Mount Everest. Global warming is a problem occurring all over the globe that causes the earth to heat up, and with time is only getting worse, and humans are the cause. This indirectly affects the Himalayas and is the sole reason of the more rapid melting of both the glaciers and the snow, which coat the mountain range. As I mentioned earlier, a result of this melting is that there are now plants growing in areas where it wasn't possible for them to survive in the past. Another result of this melting is that over time there will be less and less water coming down from the mountains, meaning that eventually all of the water being held in the glaciers and snow will eventually be gone. This is a problem because the people native to the Himalayas all depend on the glaciers and snow atop the range for their primary water source, and once it's all gone, they will no longer have access to what they need to survive. Something that humans are doing that directly affects the summit is that we are polluting the environment. Many tourists looking to explore and scale the mountain bring lots of gear, and most of which is all left behind. Every climbing season there averages to be about 600 climbers, and each climber brings and leaves an average of 18 pounds of their belongings on the mountain. This has over time all accumulated, and there is now piles and piles of garbage sitting atop the mountain, and each year more and more trash is being revealed as the ice melts. On top of this, trash is not the only thing being found on Mount Everest. As the glaciers and snow melt, human bodies are revealed, totaling to more than 310 bodies.
Earth - Sun Relationship
Day to Night Cycles
Since Mount Everest is relatively close to the equator, the day and night cycles experienced on the mountain will be regular and routine, meaning that it would be light during the day and dark during the night year-round.
Seasons
Mount Everest doesn't experience four seasons annually, at least there are no obvious four seasons to be observed. This is because of the high altitude, which limits the summit to only two distinct seasons, summer and winter. During the summer season the weather is relatively warm, and there is a lot of rainfall. During the winter seasons the weather is harsh, and it snows often. It is recommended that the climbers visit from April to June when it is usually "warm" and sunny, as well as September to November, as so that they climb in the least harsh and safest conditions.
Climate Patterns
The summit experiences what is called an alpine climate, meaning that it goes through the typical weather for elevations above the tree line, where trees fail to grow due to cold. These regions are characterized by cold and windy conditions, as well as harsh sunlight. Temperatures in this climate are an average of -19 degrees Celsius during the summer season and are an average of -36 degrees Celsius during the winter season, but these temperatures can plummet quickly and suddenly. The temperatures will never reach above freezing point in this area. Mount Everest is an extreme environment that is unique to itself, and the areas surrounding it experience different climate patterns and conditions due to their lower elevation.
UV Exposure
Mount Everest is the tallest point above sea level on the earth, measuring at 8,850 meters in height. Its height categorizes the summit to be in the uppermost part of the troposphere layer of the atmosphere, which is the layer that helps to protect the Earth from the sun's UV rays. At lower altitudes of our planet, those harmful UV rays are still reachable, but are filtered out gradually through the atmosphere, which is not the case for the mountain. Since the mountain is so high up, there is much less atmosphere for those harmful UV rays to pass and filter through, and this puts climbers and inhabitants of the mountain at risk of very dangerous levels of ultraviolet radiation. This risk heightens even more due to the bright white snow that covers the summit. The snow only reflects the UV rays, which pretty much doubles the exposure to the peoples in the area.
Part 2: The Hydrosphere and Biosphere
Climate and Weather Patterns
The summit experiences what is called an alpine climate, meaning that it goes through the typical weather for elevations above the tree line, where trees fail to grow due to cold. These regions are characterized by cold and windy conditions, as well as harsh sunlight. Temperatures in this climate are an average of -19 degrees Celsius, and these numbers can reach their heights in the summer months, where the warmest average daily temperature (in July) is just around -2°F (-19°C). In January, the coldest month, peak temperatures average -33°F (-36°C) and can drop to -76°F (-60°C). In addition to the summits extreme weather, unpredictable fluctuations in these temperatures and storms are quite common in the region. Mount Everest is an extreme environment that is unique to itself, and the areas surrounding it experience different climate patterns and conditions due to their lower elevation. ( Mount Everest Climate & Weather, Temperature Variances (topchinatravel.com) )
Precipitation and Hydrology
Precipitation
On Mount Everest, the precipitation falls mainly in the monsoon season, which in Nepal are the months June, July, and August. The average precipitation during these months is around 100 mm. During the monsoon season, there are many storms, and they can drop huge, dangerous amounts of snow. The precipitation throughout the remaining months of the year averages around 10 mm. This number is different from that recorded from the Everest base camp, where the rainfall is 18 inches per year. Depending on the elevation at which the precipitation is being recorded at, the levels will differ.
Hydrology, Water Bodies and Features
The hydrologic cycle describes the movement of water between the Earth’s surface and the atmosphere and is a continuous exchange of moisture between the oceans, the atmosphere, and the land. In the hydrologic cycle there are 5 different processes carried out, condensation, precipitation, infiltration, runoff, and evapotranspiration, all of which occur at, around, or near to Mount Everest.
Near the Himalayas there is the Indian ocean, as well as the two different large river systems by which are fed through the runoff of the mountains. One of these systems contains water from the western rivers that combine into the Indus Basin, and the other being full of water from all of the other Himalayan rivers that drain into the Ganges-Brahmaputra Basin. These three main systems are where the evaporation that fuels condensation in the sky take place, along with the evapotranspiration that is taken from the land itself. After water is taken and brought into the sky where it is made into clouds, those clouds then move over the land, and if dense enough will cause precipitation to fall from the sky in the form of rain or snow. Water is either stored on the mountain and is brought down at a later date as runoff or is initially fallen as runoff where it is fed into the many different rivers along the mountainside.
Historical Biogeography
Habitats and Microhabitats
Habitats
Since Mount Everest is a part of the Himalayan Mountain Range, which is a range that spans approximately 2,400 kilometers or 1,500 miles from west to east, there is such a vast amount of land that is impacted. The Himalayan landscape has many greatly differing variances when it comes to elevation, precipitation, as well as exposure to sunlight and wind, and because of this there are many different types of habitats that can be found on and near to the mountain range. The habitats found can be classified into four major types, tropical, subtropical, temperate, and alpine, all of which depending on the features of which they are located. These four major habitats are the cause of the variation in and of the species present within each zone.
Microhabitats
In Mount Everest’s highest ponds and streams, located between 14,700 and 18,000 feet in the high-alpine zone and beyond, the land appears to the human eye to be empty and barren of any life, but this is not the case. The heights of Mount Everest are teaming with microscopic life, and the biodiversity is great. In the spring of 2019 researchers had taken about 5 gallons worth of samples of the meltwater found high up in the mountain, and from that, they were able to find and identify 187 different orders (a classification that helps scientists' chart how individual organisms are distantly related to each other), which is one sixth of all of taxonomic orders found on our planet.
Tardigrades and rotifers were two of the microscopic organisms found on the slopes of the mountainside.
Ecosystem Types, Biomes, and Vegetation
Ecosystem Types
The Himalayan Mountain range is home to a diverse range of ecosystems, each of which is determined by elevation and precipitation. The Mountain range holds both terrestrial and aquatic ecosystem types, as it contains both land and water. Terrestrially there are many different types of ecosystems such as forests, grasslands, shrublands, savannahs, and alpine zones. As for its aquatic ecosystems, the land has an abundance of freshwater both from the rain/snowfall, as well as water from the glaciers that is both solid and liquid.
Biomes and Vegetation
In recent years the vegetation on Mount Everest has begun to increase, both on the surrounding lower areas as well as beginning to climb higher up on the slopes of the mountain. This is due to the increasing temperatures being recorded around the world from global warming. Since the land is getting less and less harsh, more and more plants are beginning to survive. The vegetation found on summit directly relates to the different biomes that are located on the Himalayan mountainside. The four most primary are tropical, tropical temperate, temperate, and alpine, which are in order from lowest elevation to highest elevation. Because of the great levels of variation between altitudes other biomes such as tropical savannas, subtropical and temperate forests, montane grasslands, and shrublands are present as well. At the lower elevations the tropical evergreen rainforest can be found, and it is confined to the humid foothills of the eastern and central Himalayas. In these areas the evergreen dipterocarps are common, and their different species grow on different soils and on hill slopes of varying steepness. Many other different types of trees live in this area, including Ceylon ironwood, bamboos, oaks, Indian horse chestnuts, alder trees, as well as the typical evergreen Himalayan screw pine. Besides those trees, some 4,000 species of flowering plants, of which 20 are palms, are estimated to occur in the eastern Himalayas. With decreasing precipitation and increasing elevation westward, the rainforests give way to tropical deciduous forests, where there are wet sal tree forests, and then after dry sal forests higher up, at 4,500 feet. Farther west there are steppe forests, steppe, subtropical thorn steppe, and subtropical semidesert vegetation that occur successively. Temperate mixed forests extend from about 4,500 to roughly 11,000 feet and contain conifers and broad-leaved temperate trees. Past all the previous biomes proceeds the alpine zone, which begins above the tree line, between elevations of 10,500 and 11,700 feet, and extends up to about 13,700 feet in the western Himalaya and 14,600 feet in the eastern Himalayas. In that zone can be found all the wet and moist alpine vegetation such as juniper, rhododendron, mosses and lichens. There are also different types of flowering plants found at high elevations.
Biodiversity
Species Interactions
Migration and Dispersal
Endism and Rarity
Invasive Species
There are currently no known invasive species living on Mount Everest.
