Climber urine helps melt ice at Everest Base Camp

What the study found. In August 2026, media reported a paper in Regional Environmental Change (Kim Lal Gautam, Nepal Department of Land Management, and colleagues): human activity at the Nepalese Everest Base Camp (EBC) on the Khumbu Glacier can add local heat equivalent to melting roughly 2,492 ± 528 tonnes of ice and snow in one spring season (estimated range 1,964–3,020 t).

Urine is not the largest share, but it matters. Solid waste is usually collected and carried down, while much urine is discharged directly onto the glacier. At EBC altitude (~5,364 m), climbers drink heavily against dehydration; the authors estimate more than 6,000 litres of urine per day during the season. Heat transferred from urine alone could theoretically melt about 154 tonnes of ice per season — far less than fuel use, but not negligible.

Fuel dominates. During roughly 50 spring days in 2023, about 1,600 tents used 824 LPG cylinders, 18,935 litres of kerosene and 5,130 litres of petrol for cooking, heating and generators. Together with urine, the camp released an estimated 849,174 ± 179,774 MJ of thermal energy. Satellite data also show faster surface warming near EBC than on adjacent Khumbu ice.

For trekkers. Global warming remains the main driver of Himalayan glacier retreat; the seasonal EBC “city” adds localized stress on an already fragile glacier. Nepal has been discussing moving base camp off the ice — a proposal the authors now support with numbers. For anyone planning an EBC trek, it is a reminder of the camp’s footprint and the need for strict waste discipline on the route.