Human pollution reached the top of the Himalayas before people

Study reveals that traces of industrial activity contaminated the mountain range in the 18th century; first man climbed Everest only in the XX

A new study has just obtained evidence that pollution caused by humanity can reach the most unscathed of places - and even faster than man reaches those places. According to the research, published on the last 10 in the scientific journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences , remnants of coal burning in Europe in the late 18th century (time of the Industrial Revolution) reached the remote Himalayas, more than 10,000 kilometers from London.

The researchers, of various nationalities and led by Ohio State University (USA), recorded traces of metals on the Dasuopu glacier, 7 kilometers above sea level. Dasuopo, located in Tibet, sits on one of the 14 highest mountains in the world.

The analyzed ice was removed from the glacier in 1997 and analyzed in the laboratory. As a layer of ice forms on top of the previous ones, the researchers are able to determine not only the composition of one of these structures, but the year in which it was formed.

As a result, it was discovered that the ice sheets had trapped higher-than-normal levels of toxic metals, such as cadmium, nickel and zinc, around the year 1780. It was at this time that the Industrial Revolution began in the United Kingdom.

Assim, a poluição provocada pelo homem nesse período teria chegado ao Himalaia bem antes das primeiras expedições que objetivavam alcançar os picos de suas montanhas mais altas, que tiveram início apenas na década de 1920.

Esses metais teriam sido transportados pelo vento, que viaja do oeste para leste, indo, neste caso, da Europa para a Ásia. A emissão desses compostos seriam resultado da queimada de florestas, de acordo com o artigo.